Colossians 1
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, also a follower of the Lord.
This letter comes from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the will of God, and from our brother Timothy.
2 To Christ’s people at Colossae – the followers who are faithful to him: May God, our Father, bless you and give you peace.
To the believers and trusting Christians at Colossae: may you have grace and peace from God our Father.
3 Whenever we pray we never fail to thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for you,
We are always thankful to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for you, and pray for you.
4 now that we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all his people,
We've heard about your trust in Christ Jesus and your love for all the believers
5 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,
because of the hope prepared for you in heaven. You already heard about this in the good news, the message of truth
6 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.
that came to you just as it has gone throughout the whole world, spreading widely and bringing results. It's done the same for you too, ever since you heard it and realized the true nature of God's grace.
7 It is just what you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who, as a minister of the Christ, faithfully represents us,
Our dear friend and fellow-worker Epaphras, who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on our behalf, taught you about this.
8 and who told us of the love with which the Spirit has inspired you.
He's also made clear to us your love in the Spirit.
9 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.
Because of this we continue to pray for you from the time we heard about you, asking God to give you understanding of what he wants you to do and to give you every kind of spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 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;
That way you'll live lives that rightly represent the Lord and please him, producing all kinds of good results and gaining greater knowledge of God.
11 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;
May you be made powerfully strong by his wonderful strength, having great patience and endurance.
12 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.
May you happily praise the Father, who has made it possible for us to share in the inheritance of God's people who live in the light.
13 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,
He rescued us from the tyranny of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
14 and through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.
through whom we have been set free and our sins forgiven.
15 For Christ is the incarnation of the invisible God – firstborn and head of all creation;
The Son is the visible picture of the invisible God. He was before all creation,
16 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.
for everything was created through him—in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, empires, rulers, leaders and authorities—everything was created through him and for him.
17 All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him;
He existed before everything, and he holds everything together.
18 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.
He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the first and highest of those raised from the dead, so that he is supreme in everything.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should live,
God was pleased to have his full nature live in him,
20 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.
and through him brought back everything in the universe to himself, since he made peace through the blood of his cross, through him reconciling all those on the earth and in heaven.
21 And it pleased God that you, once estranged from him and hostile towards him in your thoughts, intent only on wickedness –
You once were alienated from God, enemies in the way you thought and the way you acted,
22 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,
but now he has reconciled you through his dying human body, bringing you into his presence where you stand holy, pure, and faultless.
23 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.
But your trust in him must continue rock-solid and immovable. Don't be shaken from the hope of the good news that you heard, the good news that's been shared throughout the world—that's the work that I Paul have been doing.
24 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;
I'm happy to have trouble for your sake, for by means of what happens to me physically I'm part of Christ's sufferings that he continues to experience for the sake of his body, the church.
25 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 –
I serve the church following the direction God gave me about you, to present fully the word of God to you.
26 that truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to God’s people, (aiōn g165)
This is the mystery that was hidden down through the ages and for many generations, but it's now been revealed to God's people. (aiōn g165)
27 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!”
God wanted to make known to them the glorious wealth of this mystery to the nations: Christ living in you is the glorious hope!
28 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.
We're telling everyone about him, instructing and teaching them in the best way we know how so that we can bring everyone before God fully mature in Christ.
29 It is for that I toil, struggling with all the energy which he inspires and which works powerfully within me.
That's what I'm working for too, making every effort as I rely on his strength which is powerfully at work in me.
