^17 (A)And He is before all things, and in Him ^(B)all things consist.

Preeminence of Christ

^9 (A)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask ^(B)that you may be filled with ^(C)the knowledge of His will ^(D)in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ^10 (E)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, ^(F)fully pleasing Him, ^(G)being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the ^(H)knowledge of God; ^11 (I)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, ^(J)for all patience and longsuffering ^(K)with joy; ^12 (L)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of ^(M)the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has delivered us from ^(N)the power of darkness ^(O)and ^[a]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, ^14 (P)in whom we have redemption ^[b]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ He is ^(Q)the image of the invisible God, ^(R)the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For ^(S)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or ^(T)dominions or ^[c]principalities or ^[d]powers. All things were created ^(U)through Him and for Him. ^17 (V)And He is before all things, and in Him ^(W)all things consist. ¹⁸ And ^(X)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, ^(Y)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.