From: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus 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!

that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth.

You learned about this gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiah on your behalf.

God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,

He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything.

However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

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.

because all the essence of deity inhabits him in bodily form.

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.

He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.

You know that it is from the Lord that you will receive the inheritance as a reward. It is the Lord Messiah whom you are serving!

When this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and be sure to read the one from Laodicea.

Tell Archippus, "See that you complete the ministry you have received from the Lord."