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¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
²To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters⚓ in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.⚓

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— ⁵the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel ⁶that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. ⁷You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,⚓ who is a faithful minister of Christ on our⚓ behalf, ⁸and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,⚓ ¹⁰so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹²and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you⚓ to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of the Son of God

¹⁵The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and 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.
²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of⚓ your evil behavior. ²²But 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— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel 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

²⁴Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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. ²⁵I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— ²⁶the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷To 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.
²⁸He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. ²⁹To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

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¹Povlauj kws yog Yexu Kheto le tub qhe lawv le Vaajtswv lub sab nyam, hab peb tug kwv Timaute ²has moog rua cov xuv dawb hab cov kwvtij kws ntseeg Kheto huv lub moos Khaulauxi. Thov txujkev hlub hab txujkev sab tug ntawm Vaajtswv kws yog peb leej Txwv nrug nraim mej nyob.

Povlauj ua Vaajtswv tsaug

³Txhua zag kws peb thov Vaajtswv paab mej peb ua Vaajtswv kws yog peb tug Tswv Yexu Kheto leej Txwv tsaug, ⁴vem peb tub nov txug mej txujkev ntseeg huv Yexu Kheto hab nov txug qhov kws mej hlub Vaajtswv cov xuv dawb txhua tug. ⁵Txujkev ntseeg hab txujkev hlub hov lug ntawm txujkev vaam kws khaws ca sau ntuj ceeb tsheej rua mej, kws mej tub txeev nov ntawm txuj lug tseeb kws yog txuj xuv zoo, ⁶kws tub tuaj txug mej lawm. Txuj xuv zoo hov saamswm tawg paaj txw txwv hab fuam vaam thoob nplajteb, ib yaam le fuam vaam rua huv mej txwj nub kws mej tau nov hab nkaag sab Vaajtswv txujkev hlub lawv le qhov tseeb. ⁷Mej tau kawm ntawm Epafa kws nrug kuv koom ua num hab kuv hlub nwg, nwg yog ib tug kws muaj sab xwb ua Kheto teg num vem yog saib rua mej,⚓ ⁸hab nwg tau qha rua peb paub txug mej txujkev hlub huv Vaaj Ntsuj Plig.
⁹Vem le nuav txwj nub kws peb nov txug mej, peb kuj tsw tseg qhov kws thov Vaajtswv paab mej. Peb thov kuas mej yuav muaj txhua yaam tswvyim hab nkaag sab saab ntsuj plig⚓ txhad paub taag nrho Vaajtswv lub sab nyam le caag, ¹⁰sub mej txhad ua lub neej lawv le kws tswm nyog ua rua tug Tswv, hab txaus nwg lub sab txhua yaam, yog tawg paaj txw txwv rua txhua yaam num zoo hab paub Vaajtswv zuj zug. ¹¹Kuv thov txhawb mej tug zug kuas muaj zug heev lawv le Vaajtswv tug fwjchim ci ntsaa quas ab, sub mej txhad thev taug hab ua sab ntev rua txhua yaam hab muaj sab xyiv faab ¹²hab ua leej Txwv tsaug kws pub mej ^a muaj feem nrug cov xuv dawb tau qub txeeg qub teg huv qhov kaaj. ¹³Vaajtswv cawm peb dim tug fwjchim tsaus ntuj hab coj peb lug nyob huv nwg tug Tub kws nwg hlub lub tebchaws. ¹⁴Huv tug Tub hov peb txhad raug txhwv dim, yog qhov kws daws lub txem.

Kheto teg num

¹⁵Kheto yog Vaajtswv kws peb qhov muag tsw pum tug yaam ntxwv, yog thawj tug kws yug lug huv ib puas tsaav yaam kws tswm lug. ¹⁶Vem tug Tub hov, txhad le tswm ib puas tsaav yaam tshwm lug yog tej kws nyob sau nruab ntug, tej kws nyob huv nplajteb, tej kws qhov muag pum hab tej kws qhov muag tsw pum, tsw has tej daab, tej timtswv, tej fwjchim hab tej daab kws kaav huvsw, txhua yaam puavleej tswm ntawm nwg hab tswm rua nwg. ¹⁷Nwg nyob ua ntej dua txhua yaam hab txhua yaam raug nqug lug txuas ua ke rua huv nwg. ¹⁸Nwg yog lub taubhau rua lub cev kws yog pawg ntseeg. Nwg yog lub hauv paug, nwg yog tug Tub hlub kws xub caj sawv huv qhov tuag rov lug, sub nwg txhad ua txhua yaam tug thawj. ¹⁹Tsua qhov Vaajtswv txaus sab pub qhov kws yog Vaajtswv taag nrho huvsw nyob rua huv Kheto, ²⁰hab Vaajtswv swv Kheto ua rua txhua yaam rov lug nrug Vaajtswv sws raug zoo, tsw has tej kws nyob huv lub nplajteb hab nyob sau nruab ntug, vem yog Kheto cov ntshaav ntawm tug khaublig ntoo ua kuas muaj kev sws hum xeeb.
²¹Yaav nraag ntej mej raug txav tu ntawm Vaajtswv, hab lub sab ua yeeb ncuab ua phem kawg, ²²tassws nwgnuav Vaajtswv pub mej rov nrug nwg sws raug zoo vem yog qhov kws Yexu lub cev tau tuag txhad coj mej lug cuag Vaajtswv ua cov kws dawb huv hab tsw muaj qhov qas hab tsw muaj chaw thuaj rua ntawm Vaajtswv xubndag, ²³tsuav yog mej tswm tsaa ruaj huv txujkev ntseeg hab nyob ruaj nreeg, tsw xob tswv ntawm txujkev vaam huv txuj xuv zoo kws mej tau nov, kws tub tshaaj tawm rua txhua tug tuabneeg thoob qaab ntuj lawm, hab kuv Povlauj yog tug kws ua teg num tshaaj txuj xuv zoo nuav.

Povlauj teg num huv pawg ntseeg

²⁴Nwgnuav kuv zoo sab qhov kws raug kev txom nyem vem yog saib rua mej, hab raug kev txom nyem ntxwv rua tej kev tswm txom kws Kheto raug tsw taag, vem yog saib rua nwg lub cev kws yog pawg ntseeg, kuv txhad rws kuas tav rua huv kuv lub cev. ²⁵Kuv ua num rua pawg ntseeg hov lawv le teg num kws Vaajtswv muab cob rua kuv kuas qha Vaajtswv txujlug taag nrho huvsw rua mej, ²⁶yog tej kws muab npog ca ib txwm thau u lug hab ntau tam tuabneeg lug lawm tassws nwgnuav raug muab nthuav tshwm lug rua nwg cov xuv dawb lawm. ²⁷Vaajtswv xaav kuas puab paub tas yaam kws muab npog ca nuav muaj fwjchim ci ntsaa ab nplua mag le caag rua huv lwm haiv tuabneeg. Yaam ntawd yog Kheto kws nyob huv mej, yog qhov chaw vaam tas yuav tau koob meej ci ntsaa ab. ²⁸Peb tshaaj tawm tug Tswv nuav, hab peb muab txhua yaam tswvyim lug ntuag hab qhuab qha txhua tug sub peb txhad coj tau txhua tug moog cuag Vaajtswv ua tuabneeg kws hlub tav rua huv Kheto lawm. ²⁹Kuv txhad swv zug ua num khwv rua qhov ntawd lawv le tug zug kws Vaajtswv pub kuv muaj ntau kawg le.