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

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,

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

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;

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.