1:1 Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the purpose of God, and
 Timothy our brother,
1:2 To the saints and true brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace
 to you and peace from God our Father.
1:3 We give praise to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
 making prayer for you at all times,
1:4 After hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love
 which you have for all the saints,
1:5 Through the hope which is in store for you in heaven;
 knowledge of which was given to you before in the true word of
 the good news,
1:6 Which has come to you; and which in all the world is giving
 fruit and increase, as it has done in you from the day when it
 came to your ears and you had true knowledge of the grace of
 God;
1:7 As it was given to you by Epaphras, our well-loved helper,
 who is a true servant of Christ for us,
1:8 And who, himself, made clear to us your love in the Spirit.
1:9 For this reason, we, from the day when we had word of it,
 keep on in prayer for you, that you may be full of the
 knowledge of his purpose, with all wisdom and experience of the
 Spirit,
1:10 Living uprightly in the approval of the Lord, giving fruit
 in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
1:11 Full of strength in the measure of the great power of his
 glory, so that you may undergo all troubles with joy;
1:12 Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the
 heritage of the saints in light;
1:13 Who has made us free from the power of evil and given us a
 place in the kingdom of the Son of his love;
1:14 In whom we have our salvation, the forgiveness of sins:
1:15 Who is the image of the unseen God coming into existence
 before all living things;
1:16 For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth,
 things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and
 powers; all things were made by him and for him;
1:17 He is before all things, and in him all things have being.
1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting
 point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so
 that in all things he might have the chief place.
1:19 For God in full measure was pleased to be in him;
1:20 Through him uniting all things with himself, having made
 peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say,
 uniting all things which are on earth or in heaven.
1:21 And you, who in the past were cut off and at war with God
 in your minds through evil works, he has now made one
1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, so that you might
 be holy and without sin and free from all evil before him:
1:23 If you keep yourselves safely based in the faith, not moved
 from the hope of the good news which came to you, and which was
 given to every living being under heaven; of which I, Paul, was
 made a servant.
1:24 Now I have joy in my pain because of you, and in my flesh I
 undergo whatever is still needed to make the sorrows of Christ
 complete, for the salvation of his body, the church;
1:25 Of which I became a servant by the purpose of God which was
 given to me for you, to give effect to the word of God,
1:26 The secret which has been kept from all times and
 generations, but has now been made clear to his saints,
1:27 To whom God was pleased to give knowledge of the wealth of
 the glory of this secret among the Gentiles, which is Christ in
 you, the hope of glory:
1:28 Whom we are preaching; guiding and teaching every man in
 all wisdom, so that every man may be complete in Christ;
1:29 And for this purpose I am working, using all my strength by
 the help of his power which is working in me strongly.
2:1 For it is my desire to give you news of the great fight I am
 making for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have
 not seen my face in the flesh;
2:2 So that their hearts may be comforted, and that being joined
 together in love, they may come to the full wealth of the
 certain knowledge of the secret of God, even Christ,
2:3 In whom are all the secret stores of wisdom and knowledge.
2:4 I say this so that you may not be turned away by any deceit
 of words.
2:5 For though I am not present in the flesh, still I am with
 you in the spirit, seeing with joy your order, and your
 unchanging faith in Christ.
2:6 As, then, you took Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on in him,
2:7 Rooted and based together in him, strong in the faith which
 the teaching gave you, giving praise to God at all times.
2:8 Take care that no one takes you away by force, through man's
 wisdom and deceit, going after the beliefs of men and the
 theories of the world, and not after Christ:
2:9 For in him all the wealth of God's being has a living form,
2:10 And you are complete in him, who is the head of all rule
 and authority:
2:11 In whom you had a circumcision not made with hands, in the
 putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of
 Christ;
2:12 Having been put to death with him in baptism, by which you
 came to life again with him, through faith in the working of
 God, who made him come back from the dead.
2:13 And you, being dead through your sins and the evil
 condition of your flesh, to you, I say, he gave life together
 with him, and forgiveness of all our sins;
2:14 Having put an end to the handwriting of the law which was
 against us, taking it out of the way by nailing it to his
 cross;
2:15 Having made himself free from the rule of authorities and
 powers, he put them openly to shame, glorying over them in it.
2:16 For this reason let no man be your judge in any question of
 food or drink or feast days or new moons or Sabbaths:
2:17 For these are an image of the things which are to come; but
 the body is Christ's.
2:18 Let no man take your reward from you by consciously making
 little of himself and giving worship to angels; having his
 thoughts fixed on the things which he has seen, being foolishly
 lifted up in his natural mind,
2:19 And not joined to the Head, from whom all the body, being
 given strength and kept together through its joins and bands,
 has its growth with the increase of God.
2:20 If you were made free, by your death with Christ, from the
 rules of the world, why do you put yourselves under the
 authority of orders
2:21 Which say there may be no touching, tasting, or taking in
 your hands,
2:22 (Rules which are all to come to an end with their use)
 after the orders and teaching of men?
2:23 These things seem to have a sort of wisdom in self-ordered
 worship and making little of oneself, and being cruel to the
 body, not honouring it by giving it its natural use.
3:1 If then you have a new life with Christ, give your attention
 to the things of heaven, where Christ is seated at the right
 hand of God.
3:2 Keep your mind on the higher things, not on the things of
 earth.
3:3 For your life on earth is done, and you have a secret life
 with Christ in God.
3:4 At the coming of Christ who is our life, you will be seen
 with him in glory.
3:5 Then put to death your bodies which are of the earth; wrong
 use of the flesh, unclean things, passion, evil desires and
 envy, which is the worship of strange gods;
3:6 Because of which the wrath of God comes on those who go
 against his orders;
3:7 Among whom you were living in the past, when you did such
 things.
3:8 But now it is right for you to put away all these things;
 wrath, passion, bad feeling, curses, unclean talk;
3:9 Do not make false statements to one another; because you
 have put away the old man with all his doings,
3:10 And have put on the new man, which has become new in
 knowledge after the image of his maker;
3:11 Where there is no Greek or Jew, no one with circumcision or
 without circumcision, no division between nations, no servant
 or free man: but Christ is all and in all.
3:12 As saints of God, then, holy and dearly loved, let your
 behaviour be marked by pity and mercy, kind feeling, a low
 opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, and a power of undergoing
 all things;
3:13 Being gentle to one another and having forgiveness for one
 another, if anyone has done wrong to his brother, even as the
 Lord had forgiveness for you:
3:14 And more than all, have love; the only way in which you may
 be completely joined together.
3:15 And let the peace of Christ be ruling in your hearts, as it
 was the purpose of God for you to be one body; and give praise
 to God at all times.
3:16 Let the word of Christ be in you in all wealth of wisdom;
 teaching and helping one another with songs of praise and holy
 words, making melody to God with grace in your hearts.
3:17 And whatever you do, in word or in act, do all in the name
 of the Lord Jesus, giving praise to God the Father through him.
3:18 Wives, be under the authority of your husbands, as is right
 in the Lord.
3:19 Husbands, have love for your wives, and be not bitter
 against them.
3:20 Children, do the orders of your fathers and mothers in all
 things, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
3:21 Fathers, do not be hard on your children, so that their
 spirit may not be broken.
3:22 Servants, in all things do the orders of your natural
 masters; not only when their eyes are on you, as pleasers of
 men, but with all your heart, fearing the Lord:
3:23 Whatever you do, do it readily, as to the Lord and not to
 men;
3:24 Being certain that the Lord will give you the reward of the
 heritage: for you are the servants of the Lord Christ.
3:25 For the wrongdoer will have punishment for the wrong he has
 done, without respect for any man's position.
4:1 Masters, give your servants what is right and equal,
 conscious that you have a Master in heaven.
4:2 Give yourselves to prayer at all times, keeping watch with
 praise;
4:3 And making prayer for us, that God may give us an open door
 for the preaching of the word, the secret of Christ, for which
 I am now in chains;
4:4 So that I may make it clear, as it is right for me to do.
4:5 Be wise in your behaviour to those who are outside, making
 good use of the time.
4:6 Let your talk be with grace, mixed with salt, so that you
 may be able to give an answer to everyone.
4:7 Tychicus will give you news of all my business: he is a dear
 brother and true servant and helper in the word;
4:8 And I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that
 you may have news of how we are, and so that he may give your
 hearts comfort;
4:9 And with him I have sent Onesimus, the true and well-loved
 brother, who is one of you. They will give you word of
 everything which is taking place here.
4:10 Aristarchus, my brother-prisoner, sends his love to you,
 and Mark, a relation of Barnabas (about whom you have been
 given orders: if he comes to you, be kind to him),
4:11 And Jesus, whose other name is Justus; these are of the
 circumcision: they are my only brother-workers for the kingdom
 of God, who have been a comfort to me.
4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus,
 sends you his love, ever taking thought for you in his prayers,
 that you may be complete and fully certain of all the purpose
 of God.
4:13 For I give witness of him that he has undergone much
 trouble for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.
4:14 Luke, our well-loved medical friend, and Demas, send you
 their love.
4:15 Give my love to the brothers in Laodicea and to Nymphas and
 the church in their house.
4:16 And when this letter has been made public among you, let
 the same be done in the church of Laodicea; and see that you
 have the letter from Laodicea.
4:17 Say to Archippus, See that you do the work which the Lord
 has given you to do.
4:18 I, Paul, give you this word of love in my handwriting. Keep
 in memory that I am a prisoner. Grace be with you.
