Colossians 3:12 (DRB)

Passage

Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience:

Nearby Context

Colossians 3:10 And putting on the new, him who is renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of him that created him.

Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free. But Christ is all and in all.

Colossians 3:12 Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience:

Colossians 3:13 Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another. Even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also.

Colossians 3:14 But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Where there is neither Gentile nor Jew..." into verse 13's "Bearing with one another and forgiving one...", so "mercy" and "therefore" 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 "mercy" and "therefore" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.