Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To: The holy and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with the Messiah. May grace and peace from God our Father be yours!

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you,

because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints,

You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah on your behalf,

yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

Now I am rejoicing while suffering for you as I complete in my flesh whatever remains of the Messiah's sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church.

to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope.

It is he whom we proclaim as we admonish and wisely teach everyone, so that we may present everyone mature in the Messiah.

Because they are united in love, I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Messiah, who is the mystery of God.

For although I am physically absent, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in the Messiah is.

So then, just as you have received the Messiah Jesus the Lord, continue to live dependent on him.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ.

You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the Messiah.

When you were buried with the Messiah in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah.

If you have died with the Messiah to the basic principles of the world, why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world?

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.

When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

In him there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free person. Instead, the Messiah is all and in all.

And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful.

Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.

At the same time pray for us, too, that God will open a door [of opportunity] to us for the word, to proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have been imprisoned;

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of the Messiah Jesus, sends you his greetings. He is always wrestling in his prayers for you, so that you may stand mature, completely convinced of the entire will of God.