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Tuesday, August 5th, 2025
the Week of Proper 13 / Ordinary 18
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Colossians 1:17

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Jesus, the Christ;   Jesus Continued;   Power;   Thompson Chain Reference - Christ;   Divinity;   Divinity-Humanity;   Eternal;   Pre-Existence of Christ;   The Topic Concordance - Atonement;   Blood;   Body;   Creation;   Jesus Christ;   Pleasure;   Reconciliation;   Sacrifice;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Christ Is God;   Power of Christ, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - A;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Colossians, letter to the;   Creation;   Firstborn;   God;   Jesus christ;   Miracles;   Paul;   Providence;   Singing;   Word;   Worship;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Animals;   Body of Christ;   Church, the;   Confess, Confession;   Paul the Apostle;   Time;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Angel;   Generation, Eternal ;   Jesus Christ;   Omnipotence of God;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Creation;   Philippians, Epistle to;   Providence;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Acts of the Apostles;   Genesis, the Book of;   Hebrews, the Epistle to the;   John, the Epistles of;   Providence;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Colossians;   Confessions and Credos;   Creation;   Fall;   Head of the Church;   Incarnation;   King, Christ as;   Lord;   Paul;   Wisdom and Wise Men;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Alpha and Omega;   Atonement;   Gnosticism;   Kenosis;   Life;   Logos;   Perfection;   Person of Christ;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Alpha and Omega (2);   Angels;   Assumption of Moses;   Attributes of Christ;   Colossians, Epistle to the;   Communion (2);   Creator (Christ as);   Death of Christ;   Doxology ;   Elect, Election ;   Enoch Book of;   Ephesians Epistle to the;   First and Last ;   Gospel (2);   Heaven;   Heir;   Humiliation of Christ;   John, Gospel of (Ii. Contents);   Logos;   Mediation Mediator;   Mediator;   Pre-Eminence ;   Pre-Existence;   Pre-Existence of Christ;   Presence (2);   Propitiation (2);   Restoration;   Supremacy;   Union with God;   Unity;   Wisdom of Christ;   World;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Colossians, Epistle to the;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Christ;   Jeremiah;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Scripture;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Creation;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Birthright;   Colossians, Epistle to the;   Consist;   Eschatology of the New Testament;   Hope;   Logos;   Pauline Theology;   Philosophy;   Providence;   World (Cosmological);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for November 3;   Every Day Light - Devotion for November 25;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He is before all things,and by him all things hold together.
King James Version (1611)
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
King James Version
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
English Standard Version
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
New American Standard Bible
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
New Century Version
He was there before anything was made, and all things continue because of him.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Legacy Standard Bible
And He is before all things,And in Him all things hold together.
Berean Standard Bible
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Contemporary English Version
God's Son was before all else, and by him everything is held together.
Complete Jewish Bible
He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.
Darby Translation
And *he* is before all, and all things subsist together by him.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Son was there before anything was made. And all things continue because of him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And hee is before all things, and in him all things consist.
George Lamsa Translation
And he is before all things, and by him all things are sustained.
Good News Translation
Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.
Lexham English Bible
and he himself is before all things, and in him all things are held together,
Literal Translation
And He is before all things, and all things have subsisted in Him.
Amplified Bible
And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]
American Standard Version
and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
Bible in Basic English
He is before all things, and in him all things have being.
Hebrew Names Version
He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
International Standard Version
He himself existed before all things, and byin
">[fn] him all things hold together.John 1:1,3; 17:5; 1 Corinthians 8:6;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
and he is before all, and every thing by him subsisteth.
Murdock Translation
and he was prior to all, and by him every thing exists.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he is before all thynges, and in hym all thynges consist.
English Revised Version
and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
World English Bible
He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist, And he is the head of his body the church;
Weymouth's New Testament
And HE IS before all things and in and through Him the universe is a harmonious whole.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he is bifor alle, and alle thingis ben in hym.
Update Bible Version
and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
New English Translation
He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.
New King James Version
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
New Life Bible
Christ was before all things. All things are held together by Him.
New Revised Standard
He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, he, is before all, and, they all, in him, hold together;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he is before all: and by him all things consist.
Revised Standard Version
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
and he is before all thinges and in him all thynges have their beynge.
Young's Literal Translation
and himself is before all, and the all things in him have consisted.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and he is before all thinges, and in him all thinges haue their beynge.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and by him all things consist.
Simplified Cowboy Version
We were made with his hand and still he holds all things together.

Contextual Overview

12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. 15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he: Colossians 1:15, Proverbs 8:22, Proverbs 8:23, Isaiah 43:11-13, Isaiah 44:6, Micah 5:2, John 1:1-3, John 8:58, John 17:5, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Hebrews 13:8, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 1:11, Revelation 1:17, Revelation 2:8

and by: 1 Samuel 2:8, Psalms 75:3, John 5:17, John 5:18, Acts 17:28, Hebrews 1:3

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:1 - God 1 Chronicles 16:30 - stable 2 Chronicles 2:12 - that made heaven Nehemiah 9:6 - preservest Psalms 33:9 - and it stood Psalms 55:19 - even Psalms 78:69 - earth Isaiah 40:26 - who hath Isaiah 44:24 - by myself Isaiah 66:2 - For all those Jeremiah 51:15 - hath made John 1:3 - General John 1:15 - he was 2 Corinthians 5:18 - all 2 Corinthians 8:9 - though Ephesians 3:9 - created Hebrews 1:2 - appointed Hebrews 2:10 - for 2 Peter 3:5 - standing Revelation 4:11 - for thou

Cross-References

Genesis 9:13
I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.
Job 38:12
"Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
Psalms 8:1

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

O Lord , our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
Psalms 8:3
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—
Acts 13:47
For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.'"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he is before all things,.... Not only in dignity, being preferable to angels and men in his nature, names, offices, and works, and worthy of more honour than all creatures; but he is before them in existence, as he must needs be, since they are all made by him; he was not only before John the Baptist, his forerunner, before Abraham who saw his day and was glad, before the first man was made, but before the angels were in being, or the heavens and the earth, or any creature were formed; and therefore must be God, who is from everlasting to everlasting:

and by him all things consist; he upholds all things by the word of his power; the heavens have their stability and continuance from him; the pillars of the earth are bore up by him, otherwise that and the inhabitants of it would be dissolved; the angels in heaven are confirmed in their estate by him, and have their standing and security in him; the elector God are in his hands, and are his peculiar care and charge, and therefore shall never perish; yea, all mankind live and move, and have their being in him; the whole frame of nature would burst asunder and break in pieces, was it not held together by him; every created being has its support from him, and its consistence in him; and all the affairs of Providence relating to all creatures are governed, directed, and managed by him, in conjunction with the Father and the blessed Spirit.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he is before all things - As he must be, if he created all things. Those who regard this as referring to a moral creation, interpret it as meaning that he has the pre-eminence over all things; not as referring to his pre-existence. But the fair and proper meaning of the word “before” (πρὸ pro) is, that he was before all things in the order of existence; compare Matthew 8:29; John 11:55; John 13:1; Acts 5:36; Acts 21:38; 2 Corinthians 12:2. It is equivalent to saying that he was eternal - for he that had an existence before any thing was created, must be eternal. Thus, it is equivalent to the phrase, “In the beginning;” Genesis 1:1; compare the notes at John 1:1.

And by him all things subsist - Or are sustained; see the notes at Hebrews 1:3. The meaning is, that they are kept in the present state; their existence, order, and arrangement are continued by his power. If unsupported by him, they would fall into disorder, or sink back to nothing. If this be the proper interpretation, then it is the ascription to Christ of infinite power - for nothing less could be sufficient to uphold the universe; and of infinite wisdom - for this is needed to preserve the harmonious action of the suns and systems of which it is composed. None could do this but one who is divine; and hence we see the reason why he is represented as the image of the invisible God. He is the great and glorious and everactive agent by whom the perfections of God are made known.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 17. :-


 
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