to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: grace to you and peace from God our Father.

as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might have the first place in everything.

if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

Of this church I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

having canceled the certificate of debt, which stood against us with its decrees. He took what was hostile away from us, nailing it to the cross.

and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.

knowing that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

When this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read the letter from Laodicea.