Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁵ The Son is like God who cannot be seen. He was his Son before anything was made.

¹⁶ He made everything in the sky and on the earth. He made the things which can be seen and the things which cannot be seen. That means angels, kings, great powers, and rulers. They were all made by him and for him.

¹⁷ He himself was before all things. And he holds all things together.

¹⁸ He is also the head of the body which is the church [the people who believe in Jesus Christ]. He is the beginning, the first one to rise from death, so that he would be the first one in everything.

¹⁹ God wanted Christ to have everything in himself.

²⁰ And God chose him to be the one who would bring all things back to himself. God made peace by the blood which Christ gave on his cross. He would bring back all things on earth and in heaven.