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That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Colossians 1:10 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  • BSB so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
  • NKJV that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  • NASB so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  • NLT Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The goal of knowing God's will is a worthy walk that pleases Him and bears good fruit. Right knowledge should produce a transformed life.

Overview

Paul links knowledge to conduct: the aim is to 'walk worthily of the Lord' and 'please him in all respects.' This life is marked by 'bearing fruit in every good work' and 'increasing in the knowledge of God,' a growing cycle of obedience and deeper knowing. True theology always issues in holy living.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Eph 4:1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
  • Heb 13:21Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
  • 2 Pet 1:2–3Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
  • John 15:16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
  • 1 Jn 3:22And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
  • 1 Th 4:1Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
  • Heb 13:16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
  • John 15:8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
  • Gal 5:22–23But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
  • Prov 16:7When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
  • Titus 3:14And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
  • 2 Pet 3:18But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
  • 2 Pet 1:8For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Mic 4:5For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
  • Col 2:6As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
  • 1 Th 2:12That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
  • Col 4:5Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
  • Eph 2:10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
  • Eph 5:15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
  • Eph 5:2And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
  • 2 Cor 2:14Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
  • Rom 6:4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
  • Phil 1:11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
  • Eph 5:10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
  • Phil 1:27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
  • Eph 4:13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
  • Col 3:20Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
  • Titus 3:1Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
  • 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
  • Hab 2:14For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
  • Heb 11:5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
  • Eph 1:17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
  • 2 Tim 2:4No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
  • Phil 4:18But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
  • Col 2:19And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
  • Dan 12:4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
  • Isa 53:11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
  • 2 Cor 9:8And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
  • John 17:3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
  • 2 Cor 4:6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Colossians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Colossians 1:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ColossiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.

How Colossians 1:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

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