aSee 2 Cor. 1:1
bSee 1 Cor. 1:1
cSee 1 Thess. 3:2
dEph. 1:1; See Phil. 1:1
fRom. 1:7
gEph. 1:15, 16; Philem. 4
hSee 1 Thess. 1:3
iSee 1 Thess. 1:3
jver. 23; See Acts 23:6; Titus 1:2; Heb. 3:6
k2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 1:4
lSee Eph. 1:13
m[ver. 23; Ps. 98:3]; See Matt. 24:14
nJohn 15:5, 16; [Phil. 1:11]
o[Rom. 16:26; Eph. 4:21]
pSee Acts 11:23
qch. 4:12; Philem. 23
rch. 4:7
tch. 4:7
v[Rom. 15:30]
wver. 4
x2 Thess. 1:11
y[Eph. 1:17]
zch. 4:5; Eph. 1:8; [1 Cor. 12:8]
aa[Ps. 1:1, 3]; See Eph. 4:1
ab[2 Cor. 5:9; Eph. 5:10; 1 Thess. 4:1]
acver. 6
adSee Eph. 3:16
aeEph. 4:2
afSee Matt. 5:12
agch. 3:15; Eph. 5:20
ajSee Acts 26:18
ak1 Thess. 1:10
alLuke 22:53; Eph. 6:12
am2 Pet. 1:11
an[Eph. 1:6]
aoSee Eph. 1:7
apSee 2 Cor. 4:4
aqSee 1 Tim. 1:17
ar[Ps. 89:27]; See Rom. 8:29
atEph. 1:10
au[Ezek. 10:1]
avEph. 1:21
awRom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:6
ax[John 8:58]; See John 1:1
ay[Heb. 1:3]
azSee Eph. 1:22, 23
baRev. 3:14
bbActs 26:23; 1 Cor. 15:20; Rev. 1:5
bcch. 2:9
bdSee John 1:16
beSee 2 Cor. 5:18; Eph. 1:10
bfSee Eph. 2:14
bg[Eph. 2:13]
bhSee Eph. 2:1, 2, 12
bi[Titus 1:16]
bj[Rom. 7:4]
bkJude 24; See Eph. 1:4; 5:27
bl1 Cor. 1:8
bmSee John 15:4
bnch. 2:7; Eph. 3:17
bover. 5, 6
bpMark 16:15; [Acts 2:5]
brSee 2 Cor. 3:6
bsSee 2 Cor. 7:4
bt[2 Tim. 1:8; 2:10]
buSee 2 Cor. 1:5
bv[Eph. 4:12]
bwver. 23
bxSee Eph. 3:2
byEph. 3:9; See Rom. 16:25, 26
bz[ch. 2:2]
caEph. 1:18; 3:16
cb[See ver. 26 above]
cc1 Tim. 1:1
cdSee ver. 22, 23
ceSee Matt. 5:48
cf1 Cor. 15:10; 1 Tim. 4:10
cgch. 4:12; [ch. 2:1]
chSee Eph. 1:19

‏ Colossians 1

Greeting

1Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and Timothy cour brother,

2To the dsaints and faithful brothers ▼
▼Or  brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church
 in Christ at Colossae:

fGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 gWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of hyour faith in Christ Jesus and of ithe love that you have for all the saints, 5because of jthe hope klaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in lthe word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed min the whole world it is nbearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you oheard it and understood pthe grace of God in truth, 7just as you learned it from qEpaphras our beloved rfellow servant. ▼
▼Greek  fellow bondservant
 He is ta faithful minister of Christ on your ▼
▼Some manuscripts our
 behalf 8and has made known to us your vlove in the Spirit.

9And so, wfrom the day we heard, xwe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that yyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all zspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as aato walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, abfully pleasing to him: acbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 adbeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for aeall endurance and patience afwith joy; 12 aggiving thanks ▼
▼Or  patience, with joy giving thanks
 to the Father, who has qualified you ▼
▼Some manuscripts us
 to share in ajthe inheritance of the saints in light. 13He akhas delivered us from althe domain of darkness and transferred us to amthe kingdom of anhis beloved Son, 14 aoin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

15 apHe is the image of aqthe invisible God, arthe firstborn of all creation. 16For by ▼
▼That is,  by means of; or in
 him all things were created, atin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether authrones or avdominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created awthrough him and for him. 17And axhe is before all things, and in him all things ayhold together. 18And azhe is the head of the body, the church. He is bathe beginning, bbthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For bcin him all the bdfullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and bethrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, bfmaking peace bgby the blood of his cross.

21 bhAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, bidoing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled bjin his body of flesh by his death, bkin order to present you holy and blameless and blabove reproach before him, 23 bmif indeed you continue in the faith, bnstable and steadfast, not shifting from bothe hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed bpin all creation ▼
▼Or to every creature
 under heaven, brand of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul’s Ministry to the Church

24Now bsI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh btI am filling up buwhat is lacking in Christ’s afflictions bvfor the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 bwof which I became a minister according to bxthe stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 bythe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 bzTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are cathe riches of the glory of cbthis mystery, which is Christ in you, ccthe hope of glory. 28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that cdwe may present everyone cemature in Christ. 29For this cfI toil, cgstruggling chwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
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