Colossians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God--and Timothy our brother:

2 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

To the people of God and the believing brethren at Colossae who are in Christ. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father.

3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, constantly praying for you as we do,

4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints,

because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you cherish towards all God's people,

5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News

on account of the hope treasured up for you in Heaven. Of this hope you have already heard in the Message of the truth of the Good News.

6 which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth,

For it has reached you, and remains with you, just as it has also spread through the whole world, yielding fruit there and increasing, as it has done among you from the day when first you heard it and came really to know the grace of God,

7 even as you learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf,

as you learned it from Epaphras our dearly-loved fellow servant. He is to you a faithful minister of Christ in our stead,

8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

and moreover he has informed us of your love, which is inspired by the Spirit.

9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

For this reason we also, from the day we first received these tidings, have never ceased to pray for you and to entreat that you may be filled with a clear knowledge of His will accompanied by thorough wisdom and discernment in spiritual things;

10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,

so that your lives may be worthy of the Lord and perfectly pleasing to Him, while you exhibit the results of right action of every sort and grow into a fuller knowledge of God.

11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy,

Since His power is so glorious, may you be strengthened with strength of every kind, and be prepared for cheerfully enduring all things with patience and long-suffering;

12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,

and give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the inheritance of God's people in Light.

13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love,

It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the Kingdom of His dearly-loved Son,

14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.

in whom we have our redemption--the forgiveness of our sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Christ is the visible representation of the invisible God, the Firstborn and Lord of all creation.

16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.

For in Him was created the universe of things in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers--all were created, and exist through and for Him.

17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

And HE IS before all things and in and through Him the universe is a harmonious whole.

18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Moreover He is the Head of His Body, the Church. He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, in order that He Himself may in all things occupy the foremost place.

19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,

For it was the Father's gracious will that the whole of the divine perfections should dwell in Him.

20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

And God purposed through Him to reconcile the universe to Himself, making peace through His blood, which was shed upon the Cross--to reconcile to Himself through Him, I say, things on earth and things in Heaven.

21 You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,

And you, estranged as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds,

22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,

He has now, in His human body, reconciled to God by His death, to bring you, holy and faultless and irreproachable, into His presence;

23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

if, indeed, you are still firmly holding to faith as your foundation, without ever shifting from your hope that rests on the Good News that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under Heaven, and in which I Paul have been appointed to serve.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly,

Now I can find joy amid my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my own person whatever is lacking in Christ's afflictions on behalf of His Body, the Church.

25 of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,

I have been appointed to serve the Church in the position of responsibility entrusted to me by God for your benefit, so that I may fully deliver God's Message--

26 the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, (aiōn g165)

the truth which has been kept secret from all ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His people, (aiōn g165)

27 to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

to whom it was His will to make known how vast a wealth of glory for the Gentile world is implied in this truth--the truth that 'Christ is in you, the hope of glory.'

28 We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;

Him we preach, admonishing every one and instructing every one, with all possible wisdom, so that we may bring every one into God's presence, made perfect through Christ.

29 for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

To this end, like an earnest wrestler, I exert all my strength in reliance upon the power of Him who is mightily at work within me.