1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted. Also from Timothy, our brother.

² To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ that live in Colossae:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.^[a]

³ In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. ⁵ You have this faith and love because of your hope, and what you hope for is kept safe for you in heaven. You learned about this hope when you heard the message about the truth, the Good News ⁶ that was told to you. Everywhere in the world that Good News is bringing blessings and is growing. This has happened with you, too, since you heard the Good News and understood the truth about the grace of God. ⁷ You learned about God’s grace from Epaphras, whom we love. He works together with us and is a faithful servant of Christ for us.^{[b] 8} He also told us about the love you have from the Holy Spirit.

⁹ Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we have continued praying for you, asking God that you will know fully what he wants. We pray that you will also have great wisdom and understanding in spiritual things ¹⁰ so that you will live the kind of life that honors and pleases the Lord in every way. You will produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. ¹¹ God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient. ¹² And you will joyfully give thanks to the Father who has made you^[c] able to have a share in all that he has prepared for his people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ God has freed us from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. ¹⁴ The Son paid for our sins,^[d] and in him we have forgiveness.

The Importance of Christ

¹⁵ No one can see God, but Jesus Christ is exactly like him. He ranks higher than everything that has been made. ¹⁶ Through his power all things were made—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ. ¹⁷ He was there before anything was made, and all things continue because of him. ¹⁸ He is the head of the body, which is the church. Everything comes from him. He is the first one who was raised from the dead. So in all things Jesus has first place. ¹⁹ God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ. ²⁰ And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ’s death on the cross.

²¹ At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God. ²² But now God has made you his friends again. He did this through Christ’s death in the body so that he might bring you into God’s presence as people who are holy, with no wrong, and with nothing of which God can judge you guilty. ²³ This will happen if you continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope brought to you by the Good News that you heard. That same Good News has been told to everyone in the world, and I, Paul, help in preaching that Good News.

Paul’s Work for the Church

²⁴ I am happy in my sufferings for you. There are things that Christ must still suffer through his body, the church. I am accepting, in my body, my part of these things that must be suffered. ²⁵ I became a servant of the church because God gave me a special work to do that helps you, and that work is to tell fully the message of God. ²⁶ This message is the secret that was hidden from everyone since the beginning of time, but now it is made known to God’s holy people. ²⁷ God decided to let his people know this rich and glorious secret which he has for all people. This secret is Christ himself, who is in you. He is our only hope for glory. ²⁸ So we continue to preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature person in Christ. ²⁹ To do this, I work and struggle, using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me.