He is a visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

for in him was the universe created, things in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; by him and for him all have been created;

If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ abides, seated on the right hand of God.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, consecrated and beloved, clothe yourselves with tenderness of heart, kindness, humility, gentleness, good temper;

Let the word of Christ have its home in you richly, in all wisdom. Teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ever singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

For he has delivered us out of the dominion of the darkness, and transplanted us into the kingdom of his dear Son,

Take care lest any man drag you away captive by his philosophy which is a vain deceit, following the traditions of men and the world's crude notions, and not Christ.

For it is in Christ that all the fullness of deity dwells bodily,

He is the head of his Body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in order that in all things he may become preeminent.

And just as it is spreading through the whole world, bearing fruit and increasing, so also is it among you, from the day in which you heard it, and came truly to know the grace of God,

And whatever you do, do it heartily as for the Lord, and not for men.

when you were buried with him in baptism. In baptism also you were raised with him, through your faith in the energy of that God who raised him from the dead.

Him I am ever proclaiming, warning every one and teaching every one, in all wisdom; that I may bring every man into his presence, full grown in Christ.

So slay your baser inclinations. fornication, impurity, appetite, unnatural desires, and the greed which is idolatry.

For this reason from the day I heard of it I have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will with every kind of wisdom and spiritual insight;

Therefore do not permit any one to sit in judgment on you in regard to what you may eat or drink, or in regard to feast-days or new moons or sabbaths.

and it is he who has told me of your love for me in the spirit.

And whatever you do, whether in word of in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God our Father through him.

as you learned it from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful minister of Jesus Christ in your behalf,

As then you have received Jesus Christ, your Lord, in him live your lives;

And you also, at one time dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sensual nature, he has made alive together with himself. For he forgave us all our transgressions,

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings on your behalf; and I am filling up in my own body what is yet lacking of the sufferings of Christ in behalf of the church, his Body.

Be unwearied in prayer, and keep awake in it when giving thanks.

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting for Christians.

To them God willed to make known among the Gentiles how glorious are the riches of that secret truth, which is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

I ask that you may give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the heritage of the saints in the light.

And you, alienated as you once were, hostile at heart in your evil deeds,

Let the peace of Christ, to which also you were called in one body, rule in your hearts, and show yourselves thankful.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that stood against us and was hostile to us, and took it out of our way, nailing it to his cross.

bearing with one another and forgiving each other, if any one has a grievance against another. Just as Christ the Lord forgave you, so must you forgive.

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.

Lie not one to another, but strip off the old self with its doings,

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands; even in putting off your sensual nature in Christ's own circumcision,

and by him it chose to reconcile all things alike on earth or in heaven to himself; making peace by him, through the blood of his cross.

For in him all the divine fulness chose to dwell;

These things are ever bringing down the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience,

And this I say, lest any one should mislead you with enticing words.

Principalities and powers he disarmed, and openly displayed them as his trophies, when he triumphed over them in the cross.

Set your heart on things above, not on earthly things;

and HE IS before all, and in him all things subsist.

But now you also must renounce them all. Anger, passion, and ill-will must be put away; slander, too, and foul talk, so that they may never soil your lips.

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward those without, buying up your opportunities.

In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge!

and put on that new self which is continually made over according to the likeness of its Creator, into full understanding.

that you may walk worthy of the Lord in every kind of pleasing; that you may be fruitful in every kind of good work, and may increase in the knowledge of God;

Slaves, obey in all things your earthly masters, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of purpose, out of reverence for your Lord.

Let your speech be always gracious, with a savor of salt, and learn how to give every man a fitting answer.

among whom you once led your daily life when you lived in them.

May their hearts be comforted! May they be knit together in love! May they gain in all its riches the full assurance of their understanding! May they come to a perfect knowledge of the secret truth of God, which is Christ himself.

When Christ, who is our life, appears, then will you also appear with him in glory.

In it that new creation there is no "Greek and Jew," "circumcised and uncircumcised," "barbarian," "Scythian," "slave," "free man," but Christ is all, and in us all.

for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

to the holy and believing brothers in Christ who are in Colosse. Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father.

and in him you have your fulness, and he is the Lord of all the principalities and powers.

For though I am absent from you in body, I am with you in spirit, happy to note your discipline and the solid front of your faith in Christ.

For that end I am ever toiling, wrestling with all that energy of his which is mightily at work within me.

Tychicus, my beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you all that concerns me.

I have sent him with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, one of your own number, for this very purpose, to let you know how I am, and to cheer your hearts.

For I can testify to his deep interest in you and in those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

They will inform you of all that goes on here.

These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, belonging to the circumcision, who have been any comfort to me.

For he who wrongs another will be paid back for his wrong-doing, and there will be no favoritism.

Masters, deal justly and fairly with your slaves, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

For these precepts, although they have a show of wisdom with their self-imposed devotions and fastings and bodily austerities, are of no real value against the indulgence of the carnal appetites.

And when this letter has been read to you, see that it is read also in the church of Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

You know that from the Lord you will receive reward of the inheritance, for you are the Lord Christ's slaves.

These were a shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Salute the brothers in Laodicea; Nympha also, and the church which meets at her house.

And tell Archippas to take heed to the ministry which he has received in the Lord, that he may fulfill it.

instead of keeping connection with the Head from the whole body draws nourishment for all its needs by the joints which bind it; and is knit together, and grows with a divine growth.

I, Paul, add this farewell in my own handwriting. Do not forget these chains of mine. Grace be with you.

Pray that I may unfold it as I ought to speak.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is well pleasing in Christians.

Whenever I pray for you I am continually thanking God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

Let no man at his will defraud you of your prize through his false humility and worship of the angels, taking his stand on the visions he has seen, and vainly puffed up by his material mind;

If you died with Christ to the world's rudimentary notions, why, as if you still lived in the world, do you submit yourselves to dogmatisms found on teachings and doctrines of men??21 such as "Do not handle this," "You must not taste that," "Do not touch this"??22 all things which are intended to perish in the using?

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Long ago you heard of this hope in the message which came to you of the truth of the gospel.

And this he will do if, indeed, you continue in the faith, firmly founded and stedfast, and never moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, and which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, that gospel of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Over them all bind on love, which is the girdle of completeness.

Husbands, be loving to your wives, and be not cross or surly with them.

For I would have you know how great a contest I am waging for you and the brethren in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen my face.

Fathers, do not harass your children, lest you make them spiritless.

that secret truth, which, although hidden from ages and generations of old, has now been made manifest to his saints.

that you may be strengthened in every kind of strength by the might of his glory for every kind of patience and fortitude with good cheer.

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, salutes you, and Marcus, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, make him welcome), and Jesus surnamed Justas.

Luke, the beloved physician, salutes you, and so does Demas.

he has now in his human body reconciled to God by his death, in order that he may bring you into his presence, holy and unblemished and irreproachable.

Epaphras, one of yourselves, salutes you, a slave of Christ who is always agonizing for you in his prayers, that you may stand firm, mature, and fully assured in all the will of God.

It is of this I was made a minister, according to the stewardship entrusted to me by God for you, fully to declare God's message;

Keep on praying for me, too, that God may open for me a door of utterance to speak the secret truth of Christ, for which I am a prisoner.

(since I heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love to all the saints)

since you are rooted in him, and in him continually built up. Be firmly established in the faith as you were taught it, and continually abound in it with thanksgiving.