²¹ And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him], participating in evil things, ²² yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His ^[a]physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ [and He will do this] if you continue in the faith, well-grounded and steadfast, and not shifting away from the [confident] hope [that is a result] of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^[b]in all creation under heaven, and of which [gospel] I, Paul, was made a minister.

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf. And with my own body I ^[c]supplement whatever is lacking [on our part] of Christ’s afflictions, on behalf of His body, which is the church. ²⁵ In this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship which God entrusted to me for your sake, so that I might make the word of God fully known [among you]— ²⁶ that is, ^[d]the mystery which was hidden [from angels and mankind] for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints (God’s people). ²⁷ God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in and among you, the hope and guarantee of [realizing the] glory. ²⁸ We proclaim Him, warning and instructing everyone in all wisdom [that is, with comprehensive insight into the word and purposes of God], so that we may present every person complete in Christ [mature, fully trained, and perfect in Him—the Anointed]. ²⁹ For this I labor [often to the point of exhaustion], striving with His power and energy, which so greatly works within me.