Colossians 1 - 2 — Legacy Standard Bible

Thanksgiving and Prayer

1^aPaul, ^ban apostle of Christ Jesus ¹^,^cby the will of God, and ^dTimothy ²our brother,

²To the ¹^,^asaints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae: ^bGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

³^aWe give thanks to God, ^bthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴^asince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^blove which you have ¹for ^call the ²saints, ⁵because of the ^ahope ^blaid up for you in ¹heaven, of which you previously ^cheard in the word of truth, ²the gospel ⁶which has come to you, just as ¹^,^ain all the world also it is constantly bearing ^bfruit and ²multiplying, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^cheard and ³understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷just as you learned it from ^aEpaphras, our ^bbeloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸who also informed us of your ^alove in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason also, ^asince the day we heard, ^bwe have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ¹^,^cfull knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^dwisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that you may ^awalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ¹^,^bto please Him in all respects, ^cbearing fruit in every good work and ²multiplying in the ³full knowledge of God; ¹¹^abeing strengthened with all power, according to ¹His glorious might, ²for the attaining of all steadfastness and ³patience; ^bjoyously ¹²giving thanks to ^athe Father, who has qualified us ¹to share in ^bthe inheritance of the ²saints in ^clight. ¹³Who rescued us from the ^aauthority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^bthe Son of His love, ¹⁴^ain whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Firstborn of All Creation

¹⁵¹Who is the ^aimage of the ^binvisible God, the ^cfirstborn of all creation.¹⁶For ¹^,^ain Him all things were created, ^bboth in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^cthrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—^dall things have been created through Him and for Him.¹⁷And He ¹^,^ais before all things,And in Him all things ²hold together.¹⁸And He is the ^ahead of ^bthe body, the church;Who is ^cthe beginning, ^dthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.¹⁹For in Him ¹all ^athe fullness of God ^bwas pleased to dwell,²⁰And through Him to ^areconcile all things to Himself, having made ^bpeace through ^cthe blood of His cross—through Him—^dwhether things on earth or things in ¹heaven.

²¹And although you were ^aformerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, ²²but now He ^areconciled you in the ^bbody of His flesh through death, in order to ^cpresent you before Him ^dholy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³if indeed you continue in ¹the faith firmly ^agrounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the ^bhope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed ^cin all creation under heaven, ^dand of which I, Paul, ²was made a ³^,^eminister.

²⁴^aNow I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and ^bI fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of ^cHis body, which is the church, ²⁵^aof which I ¹was made a minister according to the ^bstewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might ²fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶that is, ^athe mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ¹saints, ²⁷to whom ^aGod willed to make known what is ^bthe riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ^cChrist in you, the ^dhope of glory. ²⁸Him we proclaim, ^aadmonishing every man and teaching every man ¹with all ^bwisdom, so that we may ^cpresent every man ²^,^dcomplete in Christ. ²⁹For this purpose I also ^alabor, ^bstriving ^caccording to His working, which He works in me in power.

Alive with Christ

2For I want you to understand how great a ^astruggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at ^bLaodicea, and for all those who have not seen my face in the flesh, ²so that their ^ahearts may be encouraged, having been ^bheld together in love, even unto all ^cthe wealth of the full assurance of understanding, unto the ^dfull knowledge of ^eGod’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, ³in whom are hidden all ^athe treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴^aI say this so that no one will delude you with ^bpersuasive argument. ⁵For even though I am ^aabsent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing ¹to see your ^bgood order and the ^cstability of your faith in Christ.

⁶Therefore as you received ^aChrist Jesus the Lord, so ¹^,^bwalk in Him, ⁷having been firmly ^arooted and being ^bbuilt up in Him, and having been ^cestablished ¹in your faith—just as you ^dwere instructed—and abounding ²with thanksgiving.

⁸^aSee to it that no one takes you captive through ^bphilosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the ^celementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in Him all the ^afullness of Deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and in Him you have been ^afilled, ^bwho is the head ¹over all ^crule and authority; ¹¹in whom ^ayou were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of ^bthe body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, ¹²having been ^aburied with Him in baptism, in which you were also ^braised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who ^craised Him from the dead. ¹³And you being ^adead ¹in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He ^bmade you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions. ¹⁴Having canceled out ^athe certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, ^bHe also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵Having ¹^,^adisarmed the ^brulers and authorities, He ^cmade a public display of them, having ^dtriumphed over them in ²Him.

¹⁶Therefore, no one is to ^ajudge you in ^bfood and ^cdrink, or in respect to a ^dfestival or a ^enew moon or a ^fSabbath ¹day— ¹⁷things which are only a ^ashadow of what is to come; but the ¹substance ²belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Let no one keep ¹^,^adefrauding you of your prize by ^bdelighting in ²self-abasement and the worship of the angels, going into detail about visions he has seen, ^cbeing puffed up for nothing by his ^dfleshly mind, ¹⁹and not holding fast to ^athe head, from whom ^bthe entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ¹ligaments, grows with a growth ²that is from God.

²⁰^aIf you have died with Christ ¹to the ^belementary principles of the world, ^cwhy, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to ^ddecrees: ²¹“Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch”? ²²Which ¹deal with everything ^adestined to perish ²with use, which are in accordance with the ^bcommands and teachings of men; ²³which are matters having, to be sure, a ¹word of wisdom in ²^,^aself-made religion and self-abasement and ^bsevere treatment of the body, but are of no value against ^cfleshly indulgence.