Colossians:1
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Paul ,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God ,
and Timothy our brother ,
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to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse :
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ .
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We give thanks to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ,
praying always for you ,
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since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints ;
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because of the hope being laid up for you in Heaven ,
of which you heard before in the Word of the Truth of the gospel ,
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which has come to you ,
as in all the world ,
and is bearing fruit ,
as it is also among you ,
since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth ;
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even as you also learned from Epaphras ,
our beloved fellow servant ,
who is a faithful minister of Christ for you ,
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who also declared to us your love in the Spirit .
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For this reason we also ,
since the day we heard it ,
do not cease to pray for you ,
and to ask that you may be filled with the full true knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ;
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that you may walk worthy of the Lord ,
fully pleasing Him ,
bearing fruit in every good work and growing into the full true knowledge of God ;
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strengthened with all might ,
according to His glorious power ,
unto all patience and longsuffering with joy ;
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giving thanks to the Father who has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light ;
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who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love ,
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in whom we have redemption through His blood ,
the remission of sins .
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He is the image of the invisible God ,
the firstborn of all creation .
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For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on earth ,
visible and invisible ,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities .
All things were created through Him and for Him .
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And He is before all things ,
and in Him all things consist .
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And He is the Head of the body ,
the church ,
who is the beginning ,
the firstborn out from the dead ,
that in all things He may be preeminent .
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For it is good that in Him all the fullness should dwell ,
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and by Him making peace through the blood of His cross ,
by Him to reconcile all things to Himself ,
whether things on earth or things in the heavens .
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And you ,
who once were alienated and hostile in your mind by wicked works ,
yet now He has reconciled
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in the body of His flesh through death ,
to present you holy ,
and without blemish ,
and above reproach in His sight ;
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if indeed you continue in the faith ,
grounded and steadfast ,
and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard ,
which was preached to every creature under Heaven ,
of which I ,
Paul ,
was made a minister .
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I now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf ,
and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ ,
on behalf of His body ,
which is the church ,
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of which I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you ,
to fulfill the Word of God ,
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the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations ,
but now has been revealed to His saints .
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To them God willed 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 .
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Him we preach ,
warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom ,
that we may present every man complete in Christ Jesus .
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To this end I also labor ,
striving according to His working which works in me mightily .