King James Version · Under Rome
Colossians 1
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, of by the will of , and our brother, To and brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: be unto you, and peace, from and . We give thanks to and of our , praying always for you, Since we heard of your in Christ , and of the love which ye have to all , For the which is laid up for you in , whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of ; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the of in truth: As ye also learned of our dear fellowservant, who is for you a minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in . For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to for you, and to that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of ; Strengthened with all might, according to his , unto all and with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto , which hath made us meet to be partakers of the of in : Who hath us from the of , and hath translated us into of his dear Son: In whom we have through his , even the forgiveness of : Who is the of the invisible , of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in , and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be , or dominions, or , or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, : who is the beginning, from ; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased that in him should all fulness ; And, having made peace through of his , by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in . And you, that were sometime alienated and in by works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his through , to present you and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the of , which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under ; whereof I am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my for his body’s sake, which is : Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of ; Even which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his : To whom would make known what is the riches of the of this among the ; which is Christ in you, the of : Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all ; that we may present every man perfect in Christ : Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
Christians read this chapter differently
- Is Jesus God? · Colossians 1:15-20
Every view at its strongest, with who holds it and what it has to answer for.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.