If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.
For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is {Many ancient authorities read your.}our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory.
Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God {Some ancient authorities omit upon the sons of disobedience. See Ephesians 5:6}upon the sons of disobedience:
{Or, amongst whom}wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things;
but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth:
lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings,
and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him:
where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;
forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as {Many ancient authorities read Christ.}the Lord forgave you, so also do ye:
and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of Christ {Greek: arbitrate.}rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Let the word of {Some ancient authorities read the Lord: others, God.}Christ dwell in you {Or, richly in all wisdom; teaching &c.}richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing {Or, yourselves}one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.
And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.
Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged.
{Greek: Bondservants.}Servants, obey in all things them that are your {Greek: lords.}masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord:
whatsoever ye do, work {Greek: from the soul}heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men;
knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ.
For he that doeth wrong shall {Greek: receive again the wrong}receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Querverweise zu Kolosser 3,12 Kol 3,12
and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the {Or, nations (and elsewhere)}Gentiles.
For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:
Jehovah appeared {Or, from afar}of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore {Or, have I continued lovingkindness unto thee}with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where are thy zeal and thy mighty acts? the yearning of thy heart and thy compassions are restrained toward me.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
and put on the new man, {Or, that is after God, created & c.}that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before {Or, him: having in love foreordained us}him in love:
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine.
Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart {Hebrew: soundeth.}yearneth for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah.
In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another;
And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and {Or, stedfastness}patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before {Or, God and our Father}our God and Father;
knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election,
{Or, because our gospel & c.}how that our {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere; see marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much {Or, fulness}assurance; even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake.
And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit;
to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of the {Or, heart of mercy}tender mercy of our God, {Or, Wherein}Whereby the dayspring from on high {Many ancient authorities read hath visited us.}shall visit us,
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith {Or, wrought}working through love.
They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall {Hebrew: wear out.}long enjoy the work of their hands.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you {Many ancient authorities read as firstfruits.}from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and {Or, faith}belief of the truth:
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
whereunto he called you through our {Greek: good tidings: see chapter 1:8.}gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together {Some ancient authorities read in Christ.}with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any {Or, persuasion}consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions,
meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus {Or, long ages ago}before times eternal,
But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?
with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
And he shall send forth his angels with {Or, a trumpet of great sound}a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,
not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the {Or, laver}washing of regeneration {Or, and through renewing}and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave {Many ancient authorities read us.}you.
And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
We love, because he first loved us.
make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, {Some ancient authorities read of the same mind.}of one mind;
doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;
not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect.
See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all.
And then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without {Or, doubtfulness Or, partiality}variance, without hypocrisy.
And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, {Or, and is he slow to punish on their behalf?}and yet he is longsuffering over them?
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace {Or, by}for them that make peace.
For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:
and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? {Or, Shall God that justifieth?}It is God that justifieth;
Finally, be ye all likeminded, {Greek: sympathetic.}compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humbleminded:
not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
For, {Psalm 34:12 ff.}He that would love life,And see good days,Let him refrain his tongue from evil,And his lips that they speak no guile:
And let him turn away from evil, and do good;Let him seek peace, and pursue it.
for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,
Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge;
and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control {Or, stedfastness}patience; and in your {Or, stedfastness}patience godliness;
and in your godliness {Greek: love of the brethren.}brotherly kindness; and in your {Greek: love of the brethren.}brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
What then? That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened:
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.
Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall {Greek: persuade. compare Matthew 28:14.}assure our heart {Or, before him, whereinsoever our heart condemn us; because God & c.}before him:
because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Paul, a {Greek: bondservant.}servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble:
The children of thine elect sister salute thee.
These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.