A reading from the letter of Paul to the Colossians.

Christ is the image of the unseen God
and the firstborn of all creation,
for in Christ were created
all things in heaven and on earth:
everything visible and everything invisible,
Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers –
all things were created through and for This One.
Before anything was created, Christ existed,
and now holds all things in unity.
For the Church is the body,
and Christ is its head.
Christ is the Beginning,
the first to be born from the dead,
in order to be the first in every way,
because God wanted all perfection to be found in the Only Begotten
and all things to be reconciled through and for Jesus Christ,
everything in heaven and everything on earth,
when Christ made peace
by dying on the cross.

The Word of God recorded in the letter of Paul to the Colossians.