Colossians 3:12 (DBY)

Passage

Put on therefore, as [the] elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;

Nearby Context

Colossians 3:10 and having put on the new, renewed into full knowledge according to [the] image of him that has created him;

Colossians 3:11 wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ [is] everything, and in all.

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as [the] elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;

Colossians 3:13 forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any should have a complaint against any; even as the Christ has forgiven you, so also [do] *ye*.

Colossians 3:14 And to all these [add] love, which is the bond of perfectness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "therefore", "elect", "holy", "beloved", "bowels", "compassion", "kindness", and "lowliness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "elect", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "wherein there is not Greek and Jew..." into verse 13's "forbearing one another and forgiving one another...", so "therefore" and "elect" belong inside that flow. In Colossians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "therefore" and "elect" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.