Colossians 1
1
Apostolic Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ* in Colossae:
Grace to you, and peace from God our Father.*
Pauline Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying at all times for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven,* which you have previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, 6 that has come to you, as indeed throughout all the world it is bearing fruit and increasing*—as it does also in* you—from the day you heard it and knew the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 who also made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, we also, from the day we heard, have not stopped praying for you and requesting* that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in* all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way*— bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, with a view to attaining all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance* of the saints in the light, 13 who has rescued us from the authority* of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
The Preeminence of Christ in Redemption and Creation
14 in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of our* sins,* 15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of* all creation, 16 because in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible things and the invisible things, whether thrones, or dominions,* or rulers, or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him, 17 and He is before all things, and in Him everything finds its cohesion. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in order that He may have preeminence in everything. 19 For He was pleased for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him*— whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.
21 And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind by evil works, 22 yet He has now reconciled in the body of His flesh* through death, to present you holy and blameless and free from accusation in His sight, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, established and steadfast, and not be dislodged from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, which has been preached in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.*
Purpose of the Sufferings and Ministry of Paul
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you,* and I am filling up* in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to bring the word of God to its full expression,* 26 the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now has been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God intended to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles—which is Christ in you—the hope of glory,* 28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man* and teaching every man with all wisdom, in order that we may present every man completely mature* in Christ.* 29 To this end, I also work hard, struggling according to His power, which works powerfully within me.*
Notes
2 Some ancient manuscripts insert the name Jesus
2 Some ancient manuscripts insert and Lord Jesus Christ , while one ancient Greek manuscript inserts and Jesus Christ our Lord
5 Greek in the heavens
6 Some ancient manuscripts omit the parallel present participle phrase and increasing
6 Or among
9 Two ancient Greek manuscripts omit the parallel present participle phrase and requesting
9 Or through
10 Greek to all pleasing
12 Greek for the share of the inheritance
13 Or dominion
14 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive our
14 Some ancient manuscripts insert the prepositional phrase through His blood , possibly as a scribal harmonisation with Eph. 1:7
15 Or over
16 Or lordships
20 Some ancient manuscripts omit through Him
22 Or His body of flesh
23 Two ancient Greek manuscripts instead reads preacher and apostle
24 Greek in the sufferings for you
24 Or completing
25 Greek to fulfil/complete the word of God
27 One ancient Greek manuscript omits the genitive phrase of glory
28 One ancient Greek manuscript omits every man
28 Or fully mature
28 Some ancient manuscripts insert the name Jesus
29 Greek according to His working which works within me with power
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Colossians 1
1
Apostolic Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ* in Colossae:
Grace to you, and peace from God our Father.*
Pauline Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying at all times for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven,* which you have previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, 6 that has come to you, as indeed throughout all the world it is bearing fruit and increasing*—as it does also in* you—from the day you heard it and knew the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 who also made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, we also, from the day we heard, have not stopped praying for you and requesting* that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in* all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way*— bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, with a view to attaining all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance* of the saints in the light, 13 who has rescued us from the authority* of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
The Preeminence of Christ in Redemption and Creation
14 in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of our* sins,* 15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of* all creation, 16 because in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible things and the invisible things, whether thrones, or dominions,* or rulers, or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him, 17 and He is before all things, and in Him everything finds its cohesion. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in order that He may have preeminence in everything. 19 For He was pleased for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him*— whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens.
21 And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind by evil works, 22 yet He has now reconciled in the body of His flesh* through death, to present you holy and blameless and free from accusation in His sight, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, established and steadfast, and not be dislodged from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, which has been preached in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.*
Purpose of the Sufferings and Ministry of Paul
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you,* and I am filling up* in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to bring the word of God to its full expression,* 26 the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now has been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God intended to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles—which is Christ in you—the hope of glory,* 28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man* and teaching every man with all wisdom, in order that we may present every man completely mature* in Christ.* 29 To this end, I also work hard, struggling according to His power, which works powerfully within me.*
Notes
2 Some ancient manuscripts insert the name Jesus
2 Some ancient manuscripts insert and Lord Jesus Christ , while one ancient Greek manuscript inserts and Jesus Christ our Lord
5 Greek in the heavens
6 Some ancient manuscripts omit the parallel present participle phrase and increasing
6 Or among
9 Two ancient Greek manuscripts omit the parallel present participle phrase and requesting
9 Or through
10 Greek to all pleasing
12 Greek for the share of the inheritance
13 Or dominion
14 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive our
14 Some ancient manuscripts insert the prepositional phrase through His blood , possibly as a scribal harmonisation with Eph. 1:7
15 Or over
16 Or lordships
20 Some ancient manuscripts omit through Him
22 Or His body of flesh
23 Two ancient Greek manuscripts instead reads preacher and apostle
24 Greek in the sufferings for you
24 Or completing
25 Greek to fulfil/complete the word of God
27 One ancient Greek manuscript omits the genitive phrase of glory
28 One ancient Greek manuscript omits every man
28 Or fully mature
28 Some ancient manuscripts insert the name Jesus
29 Greek according to His working which works within me with power
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).