3We always give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have for all God’s people - 5Springing from the faith and love that is stored up for you in heaven, which you have already heard about in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6That has come to you, as it is spreading throughout all the world; bearing fruit, as it also has in you, since the day you heard it, and truly understood the grace of God; 7Which you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ for you, 8Who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not ceased praying for you, asking that you might be filled with knowledge of His will with all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10So that you might live a life worthy of and pleasing to the Lord, producing every good work, and growing in the knowledge of God; 11Being strengthened with all power, according to His majestic might, to have all patience, endurance and joy; 12Giving thanks to the Father, Who has allowed us to share in the inheritance of His people in the kingdom of light; 13Who has rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and has delivered us into the kingdom of His dear Son; 14In Whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins through His blood. 15Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16And by Him all things were created, whether in heaven or on earth - visible and invisible: thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers - all things were created by Him, and for Him. 17He is before all things, and by Him all creation is held together. 18And He is the Head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence (supremacy). 19For Father was pleased that all of His (God’s) fullness should dwell in His Son; 20And through Him, to reconcile everything to Himself. God made peace with everything, in heaven and on earth, by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21And you, who were once alienated from God, and enemies in your minds because of your ways, 22He has now reconciled to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body, and thereby present you; as holy and blameless as you stand in His presence without a single fault, 23If indeed, you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved from your faith in the gospel, of which I, Paul, have been made a minister - the gospel which you have heard, and has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.

24And now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and share in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for the sake of His body, which is the church. 25I have been made s servant (steward) by the commission of God, which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26The mystery which had been hidden for ages and generations, but is now revealed to His saints, 27To those whom God has chosen to reveal the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, 28We proclaim Christ, warning and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ Jesus. 29This is the goal I labor for, striving with all the wisdom and energy that Christ affords me, to accomplish His work in me in a mighty way.