1. Version 1 CEV We believe that Jesus is God. Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation. We believe that Jesus is the Creator. Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities.

2. All things were created by God's Son, and everything was made for him. God's Son was before all else, and by him everything is held together. We believe that Jesus lives in heaven now and is leader and guide over us, his church. He is the head of his body, which is the church. He is the very beginning, the first to be raised from death, so that he would be above all others.

3. We believe that Jesus came to earth to live and die for us, so that we can have life through him. God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.

4. Version 2 (NIV) We believe that Jesus is God. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. We believe that Jesus is the Creator. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

5. We believe that Jesus lives in heaven now and is leader and guide over us, his church. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. We believe that Jesus came to earth to live and die for us, so that we can have life through him.

6. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

7. Version 3 simplified using the CEV What is Jesus like? Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation. Where was Jesus when the world was made? Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities.

8. All things were created by God's Son, and everything was made for him. God's Son was before all else, and by him everything is held together. What is Jesus doing now? He is the head of his body, which is the church. He is the very beginning, the first to be raised from death, so that he would be above all others.

9. Why did Jesus come to earth and die? God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.