Colossians 3

¹If, then, you were raised together with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ sits at God's right hand. ²Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on earth, ³for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, your life, is revealed, then you too will be revealed with him in glory.

⁵So put to death the members that are on earth: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these things God's wrath is coming upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷You too once walked in these things, when you lived in them. ⁸But now you too must put them all away: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy speech from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have stripped off the old person with its practices ¹⁰and put on the new, which is being renewed toward knowledge according to the image of its creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; rather, Christ is everything and in everyone.

¹²So, as God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, ¹³bearing with one another and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord forgave you, so must you. ¹⁴And over all these put on love, which is the bond of completeness. ¹⁵Let Christ's peace rule in your hearts—the peace to which you were called in one body—and be thankful. ¹⁶Let Christ's word dwell richly among you in all wisdom, teaching and warning one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.

¹⁸Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. ²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. ²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children, so that they do not lose heart.

²²Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh in everything, not with service only under their eyes, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. ²³Whatever you do, work wholeheartedly, as for the Lord and not for people, ²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as repayment. You serve the Lord Christ as slaves. ²⁵For the wrongdoer will receive back the wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.

Translation notes 8

3:1–4 — Raised and revealed. The opening continues the shared burial and resurrection of 2:12. The base reads “your life” in verse 4; another reading is “our life.” The repeated “revealed” links Christ's appearing and theirs.

3:5 — Members on earth. “Members” means bodily parts, here associated with the practices in the following list. The command is a forceful image for ending those practices, not an instruction to injure one's body. The description “which is idolatry” attaches specifically to greed.

3:6–7 — Sons of disobedience. The gendered expression characterizes disobedient people, not males alone. Some important witnesses omit “upon the sons of disobedience”; the Greek base includes it. In verse 7, “in these things” can also be understood as “among these people.”

3:9–11 — Clothing and a new person. The singular old and new person can convey both changed personal identity and shared humanity; it is not a reference to males alone. “Barbarian” was a cultural outsider-label, and “Scythian” could evoke a people regarded as especially uncivilized. These are the ancient categories being denied decisive standing here.

3:12–14 — Compassion and completeness. “Heart of compassion” expresses a Greek idiom locating compassion in the inward organs. Humility is positive here, unlike its use in 2:18, 23. The “bond of completeness” can mean what binds everything into a complete unity; the Greek does not expressly identify what is bound.

3:15–16 — Peace and shared worship. The commands address the community as one body. “Among you” can also be “in you.” “In all wisdom” may attach to teaching and warning instead of dwelling. “With gratitude” can also be understood as “with grace”; the surrounding thanksgiving language supports the printed reading. The songs may be connected principally with singing rather than teaching.

3:18–21 — Household commands. “Submit” and “obey” are different verbs. The command to husbands also forbids bitterness or harshness toward their wives. “Parents” in verse 20 is broader than “fathers” in verse 21; these distinctions are retained.

3:22–4:1 — Slaves and masters. These are enslaved people and their owners, not employees and employers. “According to the flesh” means earthly masters. “Wholeheartedly” translates the idiom “from the soul.” The final statement in 3:24 can also be read as a command: “Serve the Lord Christ as slaves.” The warning against wrongdoing leads directly into the command to masters in 4:1.