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And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Colossians 3:15 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
  • BSB Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.
  • NKJV And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
  • NASB Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful.
  • NLT And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

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

Christ's peace should govern their hearts as members of one body, and they should be thankful. Peace and gratitude mark the unified church.

Overview

The 'peace of God' (of Christ) is to 'rule'—to act as arbiter—in their hearts and among them. They were 'called in one body' to this peace, so it has a corporate, unifying purpose. Paul again adds the refrain 'be thankful,' a recurring keynote of the letter's vision of life in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 33

  • Phil 4:6–7In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
  • John 14:27Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
  • Isa 26:3You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.
  • Rom 15:13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
  • Ps 29:11Yahweh will give strength to his people. Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
  • 1 Th 5:18In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
  • Col 3:17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
  • Rom 5:1Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
  • John 16:33I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
  • Eph 5:20giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;
  • Rom 14:17for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
  • 1 Tim 2:1I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men:
  • Ps 116:17I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call on Yahweh’s name.
  • Col 2:7rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.
  • 2 Cor 9:11you being enriched in everything to all liberality, which produces through us thanksgiving to God.
  • Eph 4:4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;
  • Eph 2:12–18that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
  • Isa 57:15For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
  • Ps 107:22Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his deeds with singing.
  • Eph 5:1Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.
  • 2 Cor 4:15For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
  • Heb 13:15Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.
  • Rev 7:12saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
  • Luke 17:16–18He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan.
  • Eph 4:16from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
  • Jonah 2:9But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”
  • Ps 100:4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name.
  • 1 Cor 7:15Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.
  • Col 1:12giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
  • 2 Cor 5:19–21namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
  • Rom 1:21Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
  • Isa 57:19I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.”
  • Isa 27:5Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

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 3:15YouTube · 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 3:15 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.