Colossenes 1

1 Paulus Apostolus Iesu Christi per voluntatem Dei, et Timotheus frater:

From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, also a follower of the Lord.

2 eis, qui sunt Colossis, sanctis, et fidelibus fratribus in Christo Iesu.

To Christ’s people at Colossae – the followers who are faithful to him: May God, our Father, bless you and give you peace.

3 Gratia vobis, et pax a Deo Patre nostro, et Domino Iesu Christo. Gratias agimus Deo, et Patri Domini nostri Iesu Christi semper pro vobis orantes:

Whenever we pray we never fail to thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for you,

4 audientes fidem vestram in Christo Iesu, et dilectionem, quam habetis in sanctos omnes

now that we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all his people,

5 propter spem, quæ reposita est vobis in cælis: quam audistis in Verbo veritatis Evangelii:

because of the hope which is kept safe for you in heaven. Of this hope you heard long ago in the true message of the good news which reached you,

6 quod pervenit ad vos, sicut et in universo mundo est, et fructificat, et crescit sicut in vobis, ex ea die, qua audistis, et cognovistis gratiam Dei in veritate,

bearing fruit and growing, as it does, through all the world, just as it did among you from the very day that you heard of God’s loving kindness, and understood what that loving kindness really is.

7 sicut didicistis ab Epaphra charissimo conservo nostro, qui est fidelis pro vobis minister Christi Iesu,

It is just what you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who, as a minister of the Christ, faithfully represents us,

8 qui etiam manifestavit nobis dilectionem vestram in Spiritu:

and who told us of the love with which the Spirit has inspired you.

9 ideo et nos ex qua die audivimus, non cessamus pro vobis orantes, et postulantes ut impleamini agnitione voluntatis eius, in omni sapientia et intellectu spiritali:

And therefore we, from the very day that we heard this, have never ceased praying for you, or asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, which comes through all true spiritual wisdom and insight.

10 ut ambuletis digne Deo per omnia placentes: in omni opere bono fructificantes, et crescentes in scientia Dei:

Then you will live lives worthy of the Master, and so please God in every way. Your lives will be fruitful in every kind of good action, and grow into a fuller knowledge of God;

11 in omni virtute confortati secundum potentiam claritatis eius in omni patientia, et longanimitate cum gaudio

you will be made strong at all points with a strength worthy of the power manifested in his glory – strong to endure with patience, and even with gladness, whatever may happen to you;

12 gratias agentes Deo Patri, qui dignos nos fecit in partem sortis sanctorum in lumine:

and you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ’s people in the realms of light.

13 qui eripuit nos de potestate tenebrarum, et transtulit in regnum Filii dilectionis suæ,

For God has rescued us from the tyranny of darkness, and has removed us into the kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love,

14 in quo habemus redemptionem per sanguinem eius, remissionem peccatorum:

and through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.

15 qui est imago Dei invisibilis, primogenitus omnis creaturæ:

For Christ is the incarnation of the invisible God – firstborn and head of all creation;

16 quoniam in ipso condita sunt universa in cælis, et in terra, visibilia, et invisibilia, sive throni, sive dominationes, sive principatus, sive potestates: omnia per ipsum, et in ipso creata sunt:

for in him was created all that is in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible – angels and archangels and all the powers of heaven.

17 et ipse est ante omnes, et omnia in ipso constant.

All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him;

18 Et ipse est caput corporis Ecclesiæ, qui est principium, primogenitus ex mortuis: ut sit in omnibus ipse primatum tenens.

and he is the head of the church, which is his body. The firstborn from the dead, he is to the church the source of its life, that he, in all things, may stand first.

19 Quia in ipso complacuit, omnem plenitudinem inhabitare:

For it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should live,

20 et per eum reconciliare omnia in ipsum, pacificans per sanguinem crucis eius, sive quæ in terris, sive quæ in cælis sunt.

and through him to reconcile all things to himself (making peace by the shedding of Christ’s blood offered on the cross) – whether on earth or in heaven.

21 Et vos cum essetis aliquando alienati, et inimici sensu in operibus malis:

And it pleased God that you, once estranged from him and hostile towards him in your thoughts, intent only on wickedness –

22 nunc autem reconciliavit in corpore carnis eius per mortem, exhibere vos sanctos, et immaculatos, et irreprehensibiles coram ipso:

but now he has reconciled you to himself by the sacrifice of Christ’s earthly body in death – it has pleased God that you should stand in his presence holy, pure, and blameless,

23 si tamen permanetis in fide fundati, et stabiles, et immobiles a spe Evangelii, quod audistis, quod prædicatum est in universa creatura, quæ sub cælo est, cuius factus sum ego Paulus minister.

if only you remain true to your faith, firm and immovable, never abandoning the hope held out in the good news to which you listened, which has been proclaimed among all created things under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made an assistant.

24 Qui nunc gaudeo in passionibus pro vobis, et adimpleo ea, quæ desunt passionem Christi, in carne mea pro corpore eius, quod est Ecclesia:

Now at last I can rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and in my own person I supplement the afflictions endured by the Christ, for the sake of his body, the church;

25 cuius factus sum ego minister secundum dispensationem Dei, quæ data est mihi in vos, ut impleam Verbum Dei:

of which I myself became a minister in virtue of the office with which God entrusted me for your benefit, to declare the message of God in all its fulness –

26 mysterium, quod absconditum fuit a sæculis, et generationibus, nunc autem manifestatum est sanctis eius, (aiōn g165)

that truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to God’s people, (aiōn g165)

27 quibus voluit Deus notas facere divitias gloriæ sacramenti huius in Gentibus, quod est Christus, in vobis spes gloriæ,

to whom it was his pleasure to make known the surpassing glory of that hidden truth when proclaimed among the Gentiles – “Christ among you! Your hope of glory!”

28 quem nos annunciamus, corripientes omnem hominem, et docentes omnem hominem, in omni sapientia, ut exhibeamus omnem hominem perfectum in Christo Iesu.

This is the Christ whom we proclaim, warning everyone, and instructing everyone, with all the wisdom that we possess, in the hope of bringing everyone into God’s presence perfected by union with Christ.

29 In quo et laboro, certando secundum operationem eius, quam operatur in me in virtute.

It is for that I toil, struggling with all the energy which he inspires and which works powerfully within me.