Colossians 1
Salutation |
1 |
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the
will of God, and Timothy our brother,
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2 |
To the saints and faithful brethren in
Christ which are at Colos'sae:
Grace be unto you, and
peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Prayer for Spiritual
Wisdom |
3 |
We give thanks to God and the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
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4 |
since we heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the
saints,
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5 |
for the hope which is laid up for you in
heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel;
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6 |
which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also
in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of
God in truth:
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7 |
as ye also learned of Ep'aphras Col.
4.12 · Phlm.
23.1--0.1 our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister
of Christ;
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8 |
who also declared unto us your love in
the Spirit.
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9 |
For this cause we also, since the day
we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that
ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding;
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10 |
that ye might walk worthy of the Lord
unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing
in the knowledge of God;
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11 |
strengthened with all might, according to
his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with
joyfulness;
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12 |
giving thanks unto the Father, which hath
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light:
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13 |
who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son.
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Reconciliation through
Christ's Death |
14 |
In whom we have redemption through his
blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Eph. 1.7
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15 |
who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature:
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16 |
for by him were all things created, that
are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by him, and for him:
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17 |
and he is before all things, and by him
all things consist:
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18 |
and he is the head of the body, the
church: Eph. 1.22, 23 who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he
might have the preeminence.
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19 |
For it pleased the Father that in
him should all fulness dwell;
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20 |
and, having made peace through the blood
of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in
heaven. Eph. 2.16
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Paul's Ministry to the
Church |
21 |
And you, that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he
reconciled
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22 |
in the body of his flesh through death,
to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his
sight:
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23 |
if ye continue in the faith grounded and
settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel,
which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
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24 |
who now rejoice in my sufferings for you,
and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my
flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
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25 |
whereof I am made a minister, according
to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil
the word of God;
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26 |
even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints:
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27 |
to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
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28 |
whom we preach, warning every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus:
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29 |
whereunto I also labor, striving
according to his working, which worketh in me
mightily.
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