Letter to the Laodiceans: What Colossians 4:16 Says
Short answer: In Colossians 4:16 Paul writes, "When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea." This tells us the apostolic letters were meant to circulate among churches. It also mentions a letter connected with Laodicea that Paul expected the Colossians to read. We do not have a surviving letter that is clearly this one, and no New Testament book is titled Laodiceans. Most Bible students think the letter from Laodicea refers either to a letter Paul wrote that we no longer possess or to the letter we call Ephesians, which may have circulated widely. The verse gives no doctrine about lost books and no command to recover them. Its clear point is that churches should share and read apostolic teaching.
What Colossians 4:16 actually says
The verse is short and practical. Paul is closing his letter to the church at Colossae, and he gives two instructions about reading. The Colossian assembly is to have this letter read aloud among them. Then they are to make sure it is read in the assembly at Laodicea. Finally, the Colossians are to read the letter from Laodicea. The words are a traveler's instructions, not a treatise on the canon. Paul assumes letters will move between towns, be read publicly, and be heard by whole congregations.
The context shows how natural this was. Colossians 4:13-16 says, "For I testify about him that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis." The three towns sat close together in the Lycus Valley. Epaphras, mentioned in the same chapter, had labored among them. A letter arriving in one town could easily be carried to the next. Paul's instruction fits ordinary travel, ordinary hospitality, and ordinary worship where someone stood and read Scripture aloud to the gathered church.
Notice also that Paul does not say the Laodicean letter was written by him. The phrase simply calls it the letter from Laodicea. It could be a letter Paul sent to Laodicea. It could be a letter the Laodiceans sent to Paul. It could be a letter they had on hand and were sending on to Colossae. The text does not settle the question, and honest teaching should say so rather than pretend the answer is obvious.
Why Paul wanted the letters read publicly
The early churches did not each own a full Bible. They had the Hebrew Scriptures, and they had apostolic letters that were copied and passed along. Paul's concern in Colossians 4:16 is that the teaching he sent would reach more than one congregation. He did not treat his letter as private correspondence. He expected it to be read aloud, heard by the whole assembly, and shared with another church in the valley.
This pattern appears elsewhere in the New Testament. Letters were read in public worship, and congregations were expected to exchange them. The New Testament itself was formed partly through this habit of copying and circulating apostolic writings. When we open a Bible today, we are benefiting from the same practice that Paul commanded in this verse.
There is a pastoral edge here too. False teaching was troubling the Colossians, and Paul wanted the same correction and encouragement read in nearby Laodicea, where similar pressures likely existed. The letter was not merely information. It was a means of strengthening churches against error and grounding them in the person and work of Christ.
What was the letter from Laodicea?
Many suggestions have been offered, and it is worth stating them plainly. One view is that Paul wrote a letter to Laodicea that has not survived. Another is that the letter from Laodicea is the letter we call Ephesians. Some early Christian writers suggested this, partly because Ephesians has a general feel and may have been sent to several churches. A third view is that the Laodiceans wrote to Paul, and the Colossians were to read that correspondence.
A fourth possibility is that the phrase refers to a letter the Laodiceans had received from Paul and were now sending to Colossae. In that case it might be the same document as Ephesians, or another letter entirely. The evidence does not allow certainty. What we can say is that no separate book called Laodiceans is included in the New Testament, and the church has not treated such a book as Scripture.
That last point matters. If Paul wrote a letter that is now lost, its loss does not damage the faith. God has preserved all that his people need for life and godliness in the books he gave. The existence of a lost letter would not add a new command or a hidden revelation. It would simply be one more example of apostolic correspondence that served its purpose in its own time.
The Laodicean church in Revelation
Laodicea appears again in Revelation 3:14-22, where the risen Christ addresses the assembly there. Revelation 3:14 begins, "To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write:" The message that follows is a rebuke to a church that had grown comfortable and self-satisfied, and it is also one of the best-known calls to repentance in the New Testament. The same town that received Paul's concern in Colossians later received a sharp word from Christ himself.
Revelation 1:11 includes Laodicea in the list of seven assemblies: "What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies:" and then names Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. So Laodicea was a real congregation with a real history. Paul cared for it, and Christ addressed it. This helps us read Colossians 4:16 as part of a larger story about a church that needed both instruction and correction.
We should be careful not to read Revelation 3 back into Colossians 4 as if the later rebuke explains the earlier letter. The two passages are years apart and address different situations. But together they remind us that churches can receive sound teaching and still drift. The remedy in both cases is the same: hear what Christ says and respond.
Did the church lose a book of the Bible?
This is the question many people bring to Colossians 4:16. The short answer is that we have no evidence that a book of the Bible was lost. The church's recognition of the New Testament canon took time, and it was based on apostolic authorship, widespread use, and consistency with the faith once delivered. A letter that Paul wrote to Laodicea, if such a letter existed, may never have been intended for wider circulation or may not have been preserved.
Even if it was lost, that would not mean the canon is defective. The Bible does not promise that every apostolic letter would survive. It does promise that Scripture is sufficient for its purpose. The books we have are the ones God determined to give his church across the ages. Speculation about lost letters can be interesting, but it should never undermine confidence in the Scriptures we actually possess.
It is also worth noticing that Paul's command in Colossians 4:16 is about reading, not about collecting. He wanted the Colossians to hear the Laodicean letter and to share his own. The practice of reading and sharing is what the verse establishes. The precise identity of that letter is a historical question, not a doctrinal one.
What this verse teaches about Scripture and the church
Colossians 4:16 shows Scripture functioning in the life of a congregation. A letter arrives, it is read aloud, and it is passed on. The church does not merely possess texts; it hears them together. This public reading is a pattern we see throughout the Bible, and it shaped how Christians have worshiped for centuries. When a pastor reads the Bible in a service, he is doing something Paul commanded here.
The verse also shows that apostolic teaching was authoritative. Paul could direct another church to read what he had written because he wrote as an apostle of Christ Jesus. His letters were not suggestions. They carried the weight of the gospel itself. That is why the early Christians copied them, shared them, and eventually recognized them as Scripture.
For us, the application is straightforward. Read the Bible, and read it with others. Let the letters that God preserved be read in your church and in your home. The letter from Laodicea may be a mystery, but the letter to the Colossians is not. We have it, and we are meant to hear it, believe it, and live by it.
How to study Colossians 4:16 in context
Start with the surrounding verses. Colossians 4:13-16 names three towns and three workers, and it ties the letter's travel to the network of relationships among the churches. Then read the whole letter to see what Paul wanted the Laodiceans to hear. The central themes are the supremacy of Christ, the danger of false teaching, and the call to walk worthy of the Lord. Those themes are what the churches needed, and they are what we need.
It also helps to read the letter as a letter, not as a collection of isolated verses. Paul opens in Colossians 1:1-2 with a greeting: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother," and then he addresses the saints at Colossae. He mentions Laodicea early on in Colossians 2:1, where he speaks of his struggle for those he has not seen face to face. The closing instructions in chapter four fit the same pastoral concern.
Finally, resist the urge to build a large theory on a small detail. The verse tells us what happened: letters were read and shared. It does not tell us what the Laodicean letter contained. Faithful teaching can acknowledge the uncertainty and still draw real benefit from the passage, because the main point is clear and useful.
Biblical fidelity check
Colossians 4:16 establishes that Paul's letter was to be read in Colossae and Laodicea, and that the Colossians were to read a letter from Laodicea. It does not tell us who wrote that letter, what it contained, or whether it still exists. It does not authorize speculation about hidden books or secret teachings. It does not say the canon is incomplete. It simply documents a practice of public reading and exchange among first-century churches.
A common misreading treats the verse as proof that a book of the Bible was lost and that the church has been deprived of something essential. That is wrong because the verse never claims the letter was Scripture, never says it was lost, and never suggests the church lacks what it needs. The New Testament books were recognized by their apostolic origin and their reception by the churches, not by every letter an apostle may have written. The verse calls us to read and share what God has given, not to chase what he has not preserved.
Other passages that speak to Colossians 4:16
The themes of this verse connect with several related studies. For the broader context of letters and visions in the New Testament, see Apokalypsis: revelation unveiling and disclosure: A Biblical Guide. For the book that addresses Laodicea directly, see Revelation 1:1–3: What This Book Really Is. For the letter Paul sent to the Colossians, see What Does Colossians 1:23 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application and Colossians 1: Paul's Prayer and Christ's Supremacy.
Frequently asked questions
What was the letter from Laodicea mentioned in Colossians 4:16?
The Bible does not say. It may have been a letter Paul wrote to Laodicea, a letter the Laodiceans sent to Paul, or a letter they were passing on to Colossae. Some early Christians thought it was the letter we call Ephesians, which may have circulated among several churches. Others believe it was a separate letter that no longer exists. The verse itself does not identify the author or the contents, so any answer beyond this is a reasonable guess rather than a certainty.
Is the letter to the Laodiceans a lost book of the Bible?
There is no evidence that a book of the Bible has been lost. The New Testament canon consists of the books the church recognized as apostolic and authoritative. If Paul wrote a letter to Laodicea, it may never have been intended for the whole church, and its absence would not affect the sufficiency of Scripture. The Bible does not promise that every apostolic letter would be preserved, and God has given his people all they need in the books he has kept.
Why does Paul tell the Colossians to read another church's letter?
Paul wanted the teaching he sent to reach more than one congregation. The churches in the Lycus Valley were close together, and letters could easily be carried from one town to the next. Sharing the letter strengthened the churches against false teaching and encouraged them in the faith. The practice also shows that apostolic teaching was meant for the whole church, not just for one group, and it set a pattern of public reading that Christians still follow today.
