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!

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, praying always for you,

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.

For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God's will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God.

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

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

For God was pleased to have all of his divine essence inhabit him.

Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross.

I became its servant as God commissioned me to work for you, so that I may complete my ministry of the word of God.

to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope.

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.

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.

Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses,

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.

Therefore, if you have been raised with the Messiah, keep focusing on the things that are above, where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God.

For you have died, and your life has been safely guarded by the Messiah in God.

It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.

But now you must also get rid of anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene speech, and all such sins.

Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Let the word of the Messiah inhabit you richly with wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing to God with thankfulness in your hearts.

And whatever you do, whether by speech or action, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

At the same time also pray for us that God would open before us a door for the word so that we may tell the secret about the Messiah, for which I have been imprisoned.

Jesus, who is called Justus, also greets you. These are the only ones of the circumcision who are fellow workers for the kingdom of God. They have been an encouragement to me.

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of the Messiah Jesus, sends you his greetings. He is always wrestling in his prayers for you, so that you may stand mature, completely convinced of the entire will of God.