5. because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. Of this you have already heard through the word of truth, the gospel,
6. that has come to you. Just as in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing, so also among you, from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth,
7. as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave, who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on your behalf
8. and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9. Therefore, from the day we heard this, we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding
10. to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God,
11. strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy
12. giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.
13. He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15. He is the image of the invisible God,the firstborn of all creation.
16. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,the visible and the invisible,whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;all things were created through him and for him.
17. He is before all things,and in him all things hold together.