Colossians 1:10-20

Common English Bible

¹⁰We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience; ¹²and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God’s holy people. ¹³He rescued us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. ¹⁴He set us free through the Son and forgave our sins.

Hymn about Christ’s work

¹⁵The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the one who is first over all creation,^[a]

¹⁶Because all things were created by him:
        both in the heavens and on the earth,
        the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
            Whether they are thrones or powers,
            or rulers or authorities,
        all things were created through him and for him.

¹⁷He existed before all things,
and all things are held together in him.

¹⁸He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning,
the one who is firstborn from among the dead^[b]
so that he might occupy the first place in everything.

¹⁹Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
²⁰        and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
        whether things on earth or in the heavens.
            He brought peace through the blood of his cross.

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