Colossians 1-2

New King James Version

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

²To the saints ^(B)and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:

^(C)Grace to you and peace from God our Father ^[a]and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Their Faith in Christ

³^(D)We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴^(E)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(F)your love for all the saints; ⁵because of the hope ^(G)which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, ⁶which has come to you, ^(H)as it has also in all the world, and ^(I)is bringing forth ^[b]fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew ^(J)the grace of God in truth; ⁷as you also learned from ^(K)Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is ^(L)a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, ⁸who also declared to us your ^(M)love in the Spirit.

Preeminence of Christ

⁹^(N)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask ^(O)that you may be filled with ^(P)the knowledge of His will ^(Q)in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰^(R)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, ^(S)fully pleasing Him, ^(T)being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the ^(U)knowledge of God; ¹¹^(V)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, ^(W)for all patience and longsuffering ^(X)with joy; ¹²^(Y)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of ^(Z)the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³He has delivered us from ^(AA)the power of darkness ^(AB)and ^[c]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ¹⁴^(AC)in whom we have redemption ^[d]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is ^(AD)the image of the invisible God, ^(AE)the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For ^(AF)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or ^(AG)dominions or ^[e]principalities or ^[f]powers. All things were created ^(AH)through Him and for Him. ¹⁷^(AI)And He is before all things, and in Him ^(AJ)all things consist. ¹⁸And ^(AK)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, ^(AL)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Reconciled in Christ

¹⁹For it pleased the Father that ^(AM)in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰and ^(AN)by Him to reconcile ^(AO)all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, ^(AP)having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹And you, ^(AQ)who once were alienated and enemies in your mind ^(AR)by wicked works, yet now He has ^(AS)reconciled ²²^(AT)in the body of His flesh through death, ^(AU)to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— ²³if indeed you continue ^(AV)in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are ^(AW)not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, ^(AX)which was preached to every creature under heaven, ^(AY)of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Sacrificial Service for Christ

²⁴^(AZ)I now rejoice in my sufferings ^(BA)for you, and fill up in my flesh ^(BB)what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for ^(BC)the sake of His body, which is the church, ²⁵of which I became a minister according to ^(BD)the ^[g]stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, ²⁶^(BE)the ^[h]mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, ^(BF)but now has been revealed to His saints. ²⁷^(BG)To them God willed to make known what are ^(BH)the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: ^[i]which is ^(BI)Christ in you, ^(BJ)the hope of glory. ²⁸Him we preach, ^(BK)warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, ^(BL)that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. ²⁹To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me ^(BM)mightily.

Not Philosophy but Christ

2 For I want you to know what a great ^(BN)conflict^[j] I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ²that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, ^[k]both of the Father and of Christ, ³^(BO)in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴Now this I say ^(BP)lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. ⁵For ^(BQ)though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing ^[l]to see ^(BR)your good order and the ^(BS)steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

⁶^(BT)As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷^(BU)rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding ^[m]in it with thanksgiving.

⁸Beware lest anyone ^[n]cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to ^(BV)the tradition of men, according to the ^(BW)basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For ^(BX)in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead ^[o]bodily; ¹⁰and you are complete in Him, who is the ^(BY)head of all ^[p]principality and power.

Not Legalism but Christ

¹¹In Him you were also ^(BZ)circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by ^(CA)putting off the body ^[q]of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹²^(CB)buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through ^(CC)faith in the working of God, ^(CD)who raised Him from the dead. ¹³And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴^(CE)having wiped out the ^[r]handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵^(CF)Having disarmed ^(CG)principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁶So let no one ^(CH)judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a ^[s]festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷^(CI)which are a shadow of things to come, but the ^[t]substance is of Christ. ¹⁸Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has ^[u]not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹and not holding fast to ^(CJ)the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, ^(CK)grows with the increase that is from God.

²⁰^[v]Therefore, if you ^(CL)died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, ^(CM)why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ²¹^(CN)“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” ²²which all concern things which perish with the using—^(CO)according to the commandments and doctrines of men? ²³^(CP)These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and ^[w]neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.