1 Ye masters, doe vnto your seruants, that which is iust, and equall, knowing that ye also haue a master in heauen. 2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the fame with thankesgiuing, 3 Praying also for vs, that God may open vnto vs the doore of vtterance, to speake ye mysterie of Christ: wherefore I am also in bonds, 4 That I may vtter it, as it becommeth mee to speake. 5 Walke wisely towarde them that are without, and redeeme the season. 6 Let your speach be gracious alwayes, and powdred with salt, that ye may know how to answere euery man. 7 Tychicus our beloued brother and faithfull minister, and fellow seruant in the Lord, shall declare vnto you my whole state: 8 Whom I haue sent vnto you for the same purpose that he might know your state, and might comfort your hearts, 9 With Onesimus a faithfull and a beloued brother, who is one of you. They shall shew you of all things here. 10 Aristarchus my prison fellow saluteth you, and Marcus, Barnabas cousin (touching whom ye receiued commandements. If he come vnto you, receiue him) 11 And Iesus which is called Iustus, which are of the circumcision. These onely are my worke fellowes vnto the kingdome of God, which haue bene vnto my consolation. 12 Epaphras the seruant of Christ, which is one of you, saluteth you, and alwayes striueth for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect, and full in all the will of God. 13 For I beare him record, that he hath a great zeale for you, and for them of Laodicea, and them of Hierapolis. 14 Luke the beloued physician greeteth you, and Demas. 15 Salute the brethren which are of Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the Church which is in his house. 16 And when this Epistle is read of you, cause that it be read in the Church of the Laodiceans also, and that ye likewise reade the Epistle written from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, Take heede to the ministerie, that thou hast receiued in the Lord, that thou fulfill it. 18 The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bands. Grace be with you, Amen. ‘Written from Rome to the Colossians, and sent by Tychicus, and Onesimus.’
Colossians · Geneva Bible (1599)
Colossians 4 Geneva Bible (1599)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Original 16th-century spelling.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Archippus
Called by Paul his fellow soldier and told to complete the ministry he received in the Lord.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:17; Philemon 2
Demas
A coworker of Paul who sends greetings from Rome, but later deserted him because he loved the present world.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:10; Philemon 24
Epaphras
A faithful minister of Christ who taught the Colossians, wrestled for them in prayer, and was Paul's fellow prisoner.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12; Philemon 23
Luke
Paul's beloved physician and coworker who stayed with him when others had left him in his final imprisonment.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24
Nympha
A woman whose house hosts a church to which Paul sends greetings.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:15
Onesimus
A slave who became a believer through Paul in prison and whom Paul sent back to Philemon as a beloved brother.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:9; Philemon 10
Tychicus
A man from Asia who traveled with Paul; Paul calls him a beloved brother and faithful servant and sent him with letters to Ephesus, Colossae, and elsewhere.
Cited in the guide: Acts 20:4; Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ephesians 6:8–20; Revelation 17:14; Deuteronomy 24:14–15; James 2:13; Luke 16:1–13
- 2 1 Thessalonians 5:17–18; Philippians 4:6; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 12:12; Matthew 26:41
- 3 Ephesians 6:19–20; Acts 14:27; 2 Thessalonians 3:1–2; Philippians 1:13–14; 1 Corinthians 4:1
- 4 2 Corinthians 4:1–4; Ephesians 6:20; Colossians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 2:14–17
- 5 Ephesians 5:15–17; James 3:13; James 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; Romans 16:19
- 6 Ephesians 4:29; 1 Peter 3:15; Ecclesiastes 10:12; Mark 9:50; Proverbs 15:4
- 7 Ephesians 6:21–23; Acts 20:4; 2 Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12; 1 Corinthians 4:1–4
- 8 Ephesians 6:22; Colossians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 12:18; 1 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:11
- 9 Philemon 10–19; Colossians 4:7
- 10 Acts 19:29; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24; Acts 15:37–39; Acts 27:2
- 11 Acts 11:2; Titus 1:10; Philemon 1; Romans 4:12; 2 Corinthians 6:1
- 12 Romans 15:30; Colossians 1:9; Colossians 1:28; Colossians 1:7; Philemon 23
- 13 Colossians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 8:3; Revelation 3:14–18; Romans 10:2; Revelation 1:11
- 14 Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:10–11
- 15 Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:9; Philemon 2
- 16 1 Thessalonians 5:27; 2 Thessalonians 3:14
- 17 Philemon 2; Acts 1:17; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 1:6; 1 Corinthians 4:1–2
- 18 Hebrews 13:3; 1 Timothy 6:21; 2 Timothy 4:22; 1 Corinthians 16:21; Hebrews 13:25
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
What Christ said to His disciples, that doth Paul also now advise. And what did Christ say? "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." (Matt. x. 16.) That is, be upon your guard, giving them no handle against you.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 13 (1889)
And again he says, in the Epistle to the Colossians: "Luke, the beloved physician, greets you." But surely if Luke, who always preached in company with Paul, and is called by him "the beloved," and with him performed the work of an evangelist, and was entrusted to hand down to us a Gospel, learned nothing different from him (Paul), as …
For this very reason He Himself also discoursed much unto the Jews in parables, "because they seeing saw not." For this, Paul likewise commanded "to know how we ought to answer every man."
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)