Greetings from Paul

1From:a Paul, an apostle of the Messiahb Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.

2To: The holyc and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with the Messiah.d

May grace and peace from God our Fathere be yours!

Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians

3We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,f praying always for you, 4because we have heard about your faith in the Messiahg Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints, 5based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hopeh through the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doingi among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. 7You learned about this gospelj from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiahk on yourl behalf. 8He has told us about your love in the Spirit.

The Messiah is Above All

9For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’sm will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to himn as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. 11You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy 12and might thank the Father, who has enabled uso to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13Godp has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, 14through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Centrality of Jesus

15The Sonq is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.

16For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created,

things visible and invisible,

whether they are kings,r lords, rulers, or powers.

All things have been created through him and for him.

17He himself existed before anything else did,

and he holds all things together.

18He is also the head of the body,

which is the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

so that he himself might have first place in everything.

19For Gods was pleased to have

all of his divine essencet inhabit him.

20Through the Son,u Godv also reconciled all things to himself,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

thereby making peace

through the blood of his cross.

21You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil,w 22he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him. 23However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.x

Paul’s Service in the Church

24Now I am rejoicing while suffering for you as I complete in my flesh whatever remains of the Messiah’sy sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church. 25I became its servantz as God commissioned me to work for you, so that I may complete my ministry ofaa the word of God. 26This secret was hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints, 27to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles—which is the Messiahbb in you, our glorious hope. 28It is he whom we proclaim as we admonish and wisely teach everyone, so that we may present everyone maturecc in the Messiah.dd 29I work hard and struggle to do this, using the energy that he powerfully provides in me.