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Paul, an ap[ostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
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To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
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We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
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because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus
and of the love you you have for all the saints -
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the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven
and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
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that hasd come to you. All over the world this gospel is growing,
just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it
and understood God's grace in all its truth.
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You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister
of Christ on our behalf,
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and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
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For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will
through all apiritual wisdom and understanding.
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And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord
and may please him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
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being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might
so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
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giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share
in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
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For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
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in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of Christ
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He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
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For by him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things were created by him and for him.
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He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
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And he is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning andthe firstborn from among the dead,
so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
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For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
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and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth
or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.
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Once you were alienanted from God and were enemies in your minds
because of your evil behavior.
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But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death
to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation -
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if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope
held out in thegospel. This is the gspel that you heard and that has been
proclaimed to every creature under heaven,
and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul's Labor for the Church
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Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you,
and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions,
for the sake of his body, which is the church.
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I have become its servant bythe commission God gave me
to present to you the word of God in its fullness -
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the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations,
but is now disclosed to the saints.
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To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles
the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
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We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
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To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
