1 Greetings from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted. Greetings also from Timothy, our brother in Christ.

² To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Colossae.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

³ In our prayers we always thank God for you. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ We thank him because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. ⁵ Your faith and love continue because you know what is waiting for you in heaven—the hope you have had since you first heard the true message, the Good News ⁶ that was told to you. Throughout the world, this Good News is bringing blessings and is spreading. And that’s what has been happening among you since the first time you heard it and understood the truth about God’s grace. ⁷ You heard it from Epaphras, our dear friend and co-worker. He is a faithful servant of Christ for us.^{[a] 8} He also told us about the love you have from the Spirit.

⁹ Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray:

that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; ¹⁰ that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God^[b]; ¹¹ that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come.

Then you will be happy ¹² and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. ¹³ God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. ¹⁴ The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins.

The Son of God Is the Same as God

²¹ At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, because the evil you did was against him. ²² But now he has made you his friends again. He did this by the death Christ suffered while he was in his body. He did it so that he could present you to himself as people who are holy, blameless, and without anything that would make you guilty before him. ²³ And that is what will happen if you continue to believe in the Good News you heard. You must remain strong and sure in your faith. You must not let anything cause you to give up the hope that became yours when you heard the Good News. That same Good News has been told to everyone on earth, and that’s the work that I, Paul, was given to do.

Paul’s Work for the Church

²⁴ I am happy in my sufferings for you. There is much that Christ must still suffer. And I gladly accept my part of those sufferings in my body for the good of his body, the church. ²⁵ I became a servant of the church because God gave me a special work to do. This work helps you. My work is to tell the complete message of God. ²⁶ This message is the secret truth that was hidden since the beginning of time. It was hidden from everyone for ages, but now it has been made known to God’s holy people. ²⁷ God decided to let his people know just how rich and glorious that truth is. That secret truth, which is for all people, is that Christ lives in you, his people. He is our hope for glory. ²⁸ So we continue to tell people about Christ. We use all wisdom to counsel every person and teach every person. We are trying to bring everyone before God as people who have grown to be spiritually mature in Christ. ²⁹ To do this, I work and struggle using the great strength that Christ gives me. That strength is working in my life.

Your New Life

3 You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. ² Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. ³ Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. ⁴ Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.

⁵ So put everything evil out of your life: sexual sin, doing anything immoral, letting sinful thoughts control you, and wanting things that are wrong. And don’t keep wanting more and more for yourself, which is the same as worshiping a false god. ⁶ God will show his anger against those who don’t obey him,^[a] because they do these evil things. ⁷ You also did these things in the past, when you lived like them.

⁸ But now put these things out of your life: anger, losing your temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and saying shameful things. ⁹ Don’t lie to each other. You have taken off those old clothes—the person you once were and the bad things you did then. ¹⁰ Now you are wearing a new life, a life that is new every day. You are growing in your understanding of the one who made you. You are becoming more and more like him. ¹¹ In this new life it doesn’t matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, circumcised or not. It doesn’t matter if you speak a different language or even if you are a Scythian.^[b] It doesn’t matter if you are a slave or free. Christ is all that matters, and he is in all of you.

Your New Life With Each Other

¹² God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So your new life should be like this: Show mercy to others. Be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. ¹³ Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ Together with these things, the most important part of your new life is to love each other. Love is what holds everything together in perfect unity. ¹⁵ Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking. It is for peace that you were chosen to be together in one body.^[c] And always be thankful.

¹⁶ Let the teaching of Christ live inside you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.

Your New Life at Home

¹⁸ Wives, be willing to serve your husbands. This is the right thing to do in following the Lord.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives, and be gentle to them.

²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything. This pleases the Lord.

²¹ Fathers, don’t upset your children. If you are too hard to please, they might want to stop trying.

²² Servants, obey your masters in everything. Obey all the time, even when they can’t see you. Don’t just pretend to work hard so that they will treat you well. No, you must serve your masters honestly because you respect the Lord. ²³ In all the work you are given, do the best you can. Work as though you are working for the Lord, not any earthly master. ²⁴ Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, who will give you what he promised his people. Yes, you are serving Christ. He is your real Master.^{[d] 25} Remember that anyone who does wrong will be punished for that wrong. And the Lord treats everyone the same.