Colossians 1:3-22

English Standard Version

Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (A)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of ^(B)your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(C)the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of ^(D)the hope ^(E)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^(F)the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed ^(G)in the whole world it is ^(H)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^(I)heard it and understood ^(J)the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(K)Epaphras our beloved ^(L)fellow servant.^[a] He is ^(M)a faithful minister of Christ on your^[b] behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your ^(N)love in the Spirit.

⁹ And so, ^(O)from the day we heard, ^(P)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^(Q)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^(R)spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as ^(S)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^(T)fully pleasing to him: ^(U)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ^11 (V)being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^(W)all endurance and patience ^(X)with joy; ^12 (Y)giving thanks^[c] to the Father, who has qualified you^[d] to share in ^(Z)the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He ^(AA)has delivered us from ^(AB)the domain of darkness and transferred us to ^(AC)the kingdom of ^(AD)his beloved Son, ^14 (AE)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

^15 (AF)He is the image of ^(AG)the invisible God, ^(AH)the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by^[e] him all things were created, ^(AI)in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AJ)thrones or ^(AK)dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^(AL)through him and for him. ¹⁷ And ^(AM)he is before all things, and in him all things ^(AN)hold together. ¹⁸ And ^(AO)he is the head of the body, the church. He is ^(AP)the beginning, ^(AQ)the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For ^(AR)in him all the ^(AS)fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and ^(AT)through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^(AU)making peace ^(AV)by the blood of his cross.

^21 (AW)And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^(AX)doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled ^(AY)in his body of flesh by his death, ^(AZ)in order to present you holy and blameless and ^(BA)above reproach before him,