Colossians 1:1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God's holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people,
5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ's faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.
8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,
12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.
13 For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son,
14 who purchased our freedom [with His blood] and forgave our sins.
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see-such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him.
17 He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything.
19 For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions.
22 Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God's servant to proclaim it.
24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for His body, the church.
25 God has given me the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming His entire message to you.
26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God's people.
27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.
29 That's why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works within me.
Col. 2:1 I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally.
2 I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself.
3 In Him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.
5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.
6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him.
7 Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
8 Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision-the cutting away of your sinful nature.
12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins.
14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
15 In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.
16 So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.
17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ Himself is that reality.
18 Don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,
19 and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For He holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.
20 You have died with Christ, and He has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,
21 "Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!"?
22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.
23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires.
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Psalms 32:1 A psalm of David. Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night Your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to You and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, "I will confess my rebellion to the LORD." And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude
6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to You while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude
8 The LORD says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control."
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD.
11 So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey Him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
Ps. 33:1 Let the godly sing for joy to the LORD; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him.
2 Praise the LORD with melodies on the lyre; make music for Him on the ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing a new song of praise to Him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.
4 For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything He does.
5 He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the LORD fills the earth.
6 The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.
7 He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
8 Let the whole world fear the LORD, and let everyone stand in awe of Him.
9 For when He spoke, the world began! It appeared at His command.
10 The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes.
11 But the LORD's plans stand firm forever; His intentions can never be shaken.
12 What joy for the nation whose God is the LORD, whose people He has chosen as His inheritance.
13 The LORD looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.
14 From His throne He observes all who live on the earth.
15 He made their hearts, so He understands everything they do.
16 The best-equipped army cannot save a king, nor is great strength enough to save a warrior.
17 Don't count on your warhorse to give you victory-for all its strength, it cannot save you.
18 But the LORD watches over those who fear Him, those who rely on His unfailing love.
19 He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine.
20 We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield.
21 In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in You alone.
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