Colossians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will 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 faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you 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 always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

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

4 because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love 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 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

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 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.

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

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 also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

and moreover he has informed us of your love, which is inspired by the Spirit.

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,

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 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,

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 being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully

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

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 redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

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

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

Christ is the visible representation of the invisible God, the Firstborn and Lord 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 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 hold together.

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; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

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 was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,

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

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

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

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

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 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, 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 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 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 I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you 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 mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed 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 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 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 We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect 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 To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

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.