Colossians 1

1 Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the purpose 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 true brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

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 praise to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, making prayer for you at all times,

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

4 After hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have for 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 Through the hope which is in store for you in heaven; knowledge of which was given to you before in the true word 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; and which in all the world is giving fruit and increase, as it has done in you from the day when it came to your ears and you had true knowledge of the grace of God;

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 As it was given to you by Epaphras, our well-loved helper, who is a true servant of Christ for us,

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

8 And who, himself, made clear 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 reason, we, from the day when we had word of it, keep on in prayer for you, that you may be full of the knowledge of his purpose, with all wisdom and experience of the Spirit,

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 Living uprightly in the approval of the Lord, giving 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 Full of strength in the measure of the great power of his glory, so that you may undergo all troubles 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 praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage 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 has made us free from the power of evil and given us a place in 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 salvation, the forgiveness of sins:

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

15 Who is the image of the unseen God coming into existence before all living things;

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

16 For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by 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 have being.

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

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.

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 God in full measure was pleased to be in him;

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

20 Through him uniting all things with himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, uniting all things which are on earth or in heaven.

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 And you, who in the past were cut off and at war with God in your minds through evil works, he has now made one

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

22 In the body of his flesh through death, so that you might be holy and without sin and free from all evil 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 you keep yourselves safely based in the faith, not moved from the hope of the good news which came to you, and which was given to every living being 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 have joy in my pain because of you, and in my flesh I undergo whatever is still needed to make the sorrows of Christ complete, for the salvation of his body, the church;

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 became a servant by the purpose of God which was given to me for you, to give effect to 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 secret which has been kept from all times and generations, but has now been made clear 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 give knowledge of the wealth of the glory of this secret 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 Whom we are preaching; guiding and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that every man may be complete in Christ;

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 And for this purpose I am working, using all my strength by the help of his power which is working in me strongly.

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.