Colossians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

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

2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

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

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

4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the (agape) love which all of you have to all the saints,

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

5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof all of you heard before in the (logos) word of the truth of the gospel;

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 Which has come unto you, as it is in all the world; and brings forth fruit, as it does also in you, since the day all of you heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

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 As all of you also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;

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

8 Who also declared unto us your (agape) love in the (pneuma) Spirit.

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

9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that all of you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

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 That all of you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

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 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

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 Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

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 Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his (agape) dear Son:

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 whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

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

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

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

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

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 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

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

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

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 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;

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

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

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 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled

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

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and irreproachable in his sight:

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 If all of you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which all of you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a 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 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

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 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the (logos) word of God;

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 Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: (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 To whom God would make known what is 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 pleasure to make known the surpassing glory of that hidden truth when proclaimed among the Gentiles – ‘Christ among you! Your hope of glory!’

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

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 Unto which I also labour, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

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