Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and brother Timotheus,

to the consecrated and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: grace and peace to you from God our Father.

We always thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you,

which has reached you as it spreads over all the world with fruit and increase. Such has been your life from the day you learned to know what God's grace really is.

You got that lesson from our beloved fellow-servant Epaphras, a minister of Christ who is faithful to your interests;

Hence, from the day we heard of it, we have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and insight,

so that you may lead a life that is worthy of the Lord and give him entire satisfaction. May you be fruitful and increase in the doing of all good, as you thus know God!

He is the likeness of the unseen God, born first before all the creation ??16 for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him;

for I am a minister of the church by the divine commission which has been granted me in your interests, to make a full presentation of God's message ??26 of that open secret which, though concealed from ages and generations of old, has now been disclosed to the saints of God.

This is the Christ we proclaim; we train everyone and teach everyone the full scope of this knowledge, in order to set everyone before God mature in Christ;

May their hearts be encouraged! May they learn the meaning of love! May they have all the wealth of conviction that comes from insight! May they learn to know that open secret of God, the Father of Christ,

fixed and founded in him, confirmed in the faith as you have been taught it, and overflowing with thankfulness to God.

when you were buried with him in your baptism and thereby raised with him as you believed in the power of the God who raised him from the dead.

when he cut away the angelic Rulers and Powers from us, exposing them to all the world and triumphing over them in the cross.

they get the name of 'wisdom' with their self-imposed devotions, with their fasting, with their rigorous discipline of the body, but they are of no value, they simply pamper the flesh!

Since then you have been raised with Christ, aim at what is above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God;

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

things that bring down the anger of God on the sons of disobedience.

As God's own chosen, then, as consecrated and beloved, be clothed with compassion, kindliness, humility, gentleness, and good temper ??13 forbear and forgive each other in any case of complaint; as Christ forgave you, so must you forgive.

Let the inspiration of Christ dwell in your midst with all its wealth of wisdom; teach and train one another with the music of psalms, with hymns, and songs of the spiritual life; praise God with thankful hearts.

Indeed, whatever you say or do, let everything be done in dependence on the Lord Jesus, giving thanks in his name to God the Father.

Fathers, avoid irritating your children, in case they get dispirited.

and pray for me as well, that God may give me an opening for the word, to speak of the open secret of Christ for which I am in custody.

Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner salutes you; so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have got instructions (if he comes to you, give him a welcome);

and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only comrades in the work of God's realm, belonging to the circumcised, who have been any comfort to me.

Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, salutes you ??a servant of Christ Jesus who is always earnest in prayer for you, that you may stand firm like mature and convinced Christians, whatever be the will of God for you.