Colossians 1

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

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

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 the holy and believing brothers in Christ who are in Colosse. Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father.

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

Whenever I pray for you I am continually thanking God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which ye have] to all the saints,

(since I heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love to all the saints)

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

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Long ago you heard of this hope in the message which came to you of the truth of the gospel.

6 Which is come unto you, as [it is] in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as [it doth] also in you, since the day ye heard [of it], and knew the grace of God in truth:

And just as it is spreading through the whole world, bearing fruit and increasing, so also is it among you, from the day in which you heard it, and came truly to know the grace of God,

7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;

as you learned it from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful minister of Jesus Christ in your behalf,

8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

and it is he who has told me of your love for me in the spirit.

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

For this reason from the day I heard of it I have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will with every kind of wisdom and spiritual insight;

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

that you may walk worthy of the Lord in every kind of pleasing; that you may be fruitful in every kind of good work, and may increase in the knowledge of God;

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

that you may be strengthened in every kind of strength by the might of his glory for every kind of patience and fortitude with good cheer.

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

I ask that you may give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the heritage of the saints in the light.

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:

For he has delivered us out of the dominion of the darkness, and transplanted us into the kingdom of his dear Son,

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:

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

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

He is a visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn 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 the universe created, things in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; by him and for him all have been created;

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

and HE IS before all, and in him all things subsist.

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.

He is the head of his Body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in order that in all things he may become preeminent.

19 For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell;

For in him all the divine fulness chose to dwell;

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 by him it chose to reconcile all things alike on earth or in heaven to himself; making peace by him, through the blood of his cross.

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

And you, alienated as you once were, hostile at heart in your evil deeds,

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

he has now in his human body reconciled to God by his death, in order that he may bring you into his presence, holy and unblemished and irreproachable.

23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

And this he will do if, indeed, you continue in the faith, firmly founded and stedfast, and never moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, and which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, that gospel of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

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:

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings on your behalf; and I am filling up in my own body what is yet lacking of the sufferings of Christ in behalf of the church, his Body.

25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

It is of this I was made a minister, according to the stewardship entrusted to me by God for you, fully to declare God’s message;

26 [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: (aiōn g165)

that secret truth, which, although hidden from ages and generations of old, has now been made manifest to his saints. (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 them God willed to make known among the Gentiles how glorious are the riches of that secret truth, which is "Christ in you, the 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:

Him I am ever proclaiming, warning every one and teaching every one, in all wisdom; that I may bring every man into his presence, full grown in Christ.

29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

For that end I am ever toiling, wrestling with all that energy of his which is mightily at work within me.