Colossians 3:16

Colossians 3:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Context of Colossians 3:16

14And you must also love each other. That is the most important thing that you should do. Love holds all these good things completely together. 15Christ has given you peace in your minds. So let that peace rule your thoughts. God has chosen you to be like one body, as his people. So he wants you to live together in peace. Thank God for everything that he gives to you. Let Christ's message always be in your thoughts, with all the good things that it brings. Use that message to teach and to warn each other. Be very wise as you do that. And also sing all kinds of spiritual songs to praise God. Sing psalms and Christian songs. As you sing, thank God from inside yourselves. 17Show that you belong to the Lord Jesus with everything that you do and with everything that you say. Always thank God the Father in the way that you serve Jesus. 18Wives, obey your husbands. That is the right thing to do, because you belong to the Lord.

Colossians 3:16 word by word

Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως, ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ, διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ψαλμοῖς, ὕμνοις, ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ἐν τῇ χάριτι ᾄδοντες ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν τῷ θεῷ·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Letἐνοικέωenoikeō · to dwell in/withG1774
• the wordὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the wordλόγοςlogos · wordG3056
• of ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• youσύsu · youG4771
• richlyπλουσίωςplousiōs · richlyG4146
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• wisdomσοφίαsophia · wisdomG4678
• teachingδιδάσκωdidaskō · to teachG1321
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• admonishingνουθετέωnoutheteō · to admonishG3560
• one anotherἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• in psalmsψαλμόςpsalmos · psalmG5568
• hymnsὕμνοςhumnos · hymnG5215
• spiritualπνευματικόςpneumatikos · spiritualG4152
• songsᾠδήōdē · songG5603
• singingᾄδωadō · to singG103
• graceχάριςcharis · graceG5485
• heartsκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• to the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962

Cross-references for Colossians 3:16

• John 5:39You study carefully what the Bible teaches. You think that those books will give you life with God. And it is true, those books do speak about who I am.
• 2 Timothy 3:15Even when you were a child, you already knew the message of the Bible. The Bible has taught you how you can be truly wise. You understand that God saves you because you believe in Christ Jesus.
• Hebrews 4:12So be careful! God's message to us is alive and powerful. It is like a sword that has two sharp edges. Even more than a sword, God's message goes very deep into us. It cuts between our soul and our spirit. It is like a sharp knife that can cut deep into our body between our bones. God's message shows what we are really thinking. It shows what we really want.
• 1 Peter 1:11They wanted to know when God's special Messiah would come and who he would be. Christ's Spirit showed those prophets that the Messiah would receive much trouble and pain. After that, God would show how great the Messiah is.
• Revelation 19:10Then I bent down low at the angel's feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am only a servant of God, the same as you are. I am a servant, like all believers who show clearly that they trust in Jesus. God is the one that you should worship! When God gave a message to his prophets, it was Jesus that they spoke about.’
• Deuteronomy 6:6Always think about these commands that I am giving you today.
• Deuteronomy 11:18Continue to think carefully about these commands in everything that you do. Tie them as signs onto your hands so that you remember them. Also tie them around your heads.
• Job 23:12I have been careful to obey his commands. His words are more important to me than my food.
• Psalms 119:11I always keep your message in my mind, so that I do not do anything bad against you.
• Jeremiah 15:16As your words came to me, I took them into me like sweet food. I belong to you, Lord, God Almighty, so your words made me very happy.
• Luke 2:51Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with them. He did what they wanted. His mother, Mary, was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot.
• John 15:7You must remain in me, and my teaching must remain in you. Then you may ask for anything that you want. God will do it for you.
• 1 John 2:14Yes, my children, I have written to you because you know God, our Father. Fathers, I have written to you because you know Christ. He was already there before the world began. Young men, I have written to you because you are strong. You continue to obey God's message, and you have won against Satan.
• 2 John 1:2I love you because we have all come to understand what is true. It will remain with us for ever.
• 1 Timothy 6:17Warn those people who are rich with many things that belong to this world. Tell them not to think that they are more important than other people. They must not think that their money will keep them safe. They could easily lose all of it. Instead, they should trust God. He gives us many things, so that we can enjoy all of them.
• Colossians 1:9Because of all that, we have not stopped praying for you, ever since the day that we heard about you. We ask God that his Spirit will make you truly wise. He will help you to know clearly what he wants you to do. You will understand his true message.

Commentaries on Colossians 3:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly - I believe the apostle means that the Colossians should be well instructed in the doctrine of Christ; that it should be their constant study; that it should be frequently preached, explained, and enforced among them; and that all the wisdom comprised in it should be well understood. Thus the doctrine of God would dwell richly, that is, abundantly, among them. But there appears to be here an allusion to the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Let the word of Christ - The doctrine of Christ. Dwell in you richly in all wisdom - Abundantly, producing the spirit of true wisdom. That doctrine is adapted to make you wise. The meaning is, that they were to lay up the doctrines of the gospel in their hearts, to meditate upon them; to allow them to be their guide, and to endearor wisely to improve them to the best purpose. Teaching and admonishing … - See this explained in the notes at Ephesians…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 We must not only do no hurt to any, but do what good we can to all. Those who are the elect of God, holy and beloved, ought to be lowly and compassionate towards all. While in this world, where there is so much corruption in our hearts, quarrels will sometimes arise. But it is our duty to forgive one another, imitating the forgiveness through which we are saved. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts; it is of his working in all who are…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are for praise and worship (see 1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:19). The book of Psalms serves as the original example.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. The form which "thankfulness" (Col 3:15) ought to take. Let the word of Christ--the Gospel word by which ye have been called. richly--(Col 2:2; Ro 15:14). in all wisdom--Alford joins this clause with "teaching," &c., not with "dwell in you," as English Version, for so we find in Col 1:28, "teaching in all wisdom," and the two clauses will thus correspond, "In all wisdom teaching," and "in grace singing in your hears" (so the Greek order). and…Read the comment

Topics related to Colossians 3:16

• Church
• Commandments
• Communion
• Fellowship
• Gospel
• Music
• Righteousness
• Song
• Thankfulness
• Wisdom
• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Spiritual Songs
• Admonish
• Bond
• Charity
• Covetousness
• Discourage
• Dwell
• Ephesians, Epistle to

Commentaries on Colossians 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings