Colossians 1

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

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 always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

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

4 because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for 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 the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, 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 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.

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 You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,

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

8 and who also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

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

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and 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 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing 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 being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully

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 to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the 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 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved 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, the forgiveness of sins.

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

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

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

16 For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through 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 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

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; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have 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 God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,

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

20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

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 Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.

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

22 But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—

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 indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

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 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, 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 I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the 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 the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed 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 them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, 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 We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

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 To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

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