Colossians 1

1 Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy, a brother,

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

2 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ Jesus who are at Colossae.

to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father.

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

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

4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that you have toward all the saints,

since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

5 because of the hope that has been stored up for you in heaven, which you have heard through the Word of Truth in the Gospel.

on account of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,

6 This has reached you, just as it is present in the whole world, where it grows and bears fruit, as it has also done in you, since the day when you first heard and knew the grace of God in truth,

which is come to you, as it is in all the world, and is bearing fruit and growing, as it doth also in you, from the day ye heard it, and knew the grace of God in truth;

7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our most beloved fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ Jesus.

even as ye learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf;

8 And he has also manifested to us your love in the Spirit.

who also brought to our knowledge your love in the Spirit.

9 Then, too, from the day when we first heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and requesting that you be filled with the knowledge of his will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding,

On this account we also, from the day we heard of it, cease not to pray for you, and to ask that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of God, being pleasing in all things, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God,

that ye may walk worthily of the Lord so as to please him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 being strengthened in every virtue, in accord with the power of his glory, with all patience and longsuffering, with joy,

endued with all power according to the might of his glory unto all patience and long-suffering with joy;

12 giving thanks to God the Father, who has made us worthy to have a share in the portion of the saints, in the light.

giving thanks to the Father, who enabled us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light;

13 For he has rescued us from the power of darkness, and he has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,

who rescued us from the empire of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son;

14 in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.

in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins; —

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature.

who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of the whole creation;

16 For in him was created everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created through him and in him.

for in him were created all things, those in the heavens, and those on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things have been created through him and for him;

17 And he is before all, and in him all things continue.

and he is before all things, and in him all things subsist.

18 And he is the head of his body, the Church. He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that in all things he may hold primacy.

And he is the head of the body, the church; since he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that he may be in all things pre-eminent;

19 For the Father is well-pleased that all fullness reside in him,

for God was pleased that in him all the fullness should dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself,

20 and that, through him, all things be reconciled to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, for the things that are on earth, as well as the things that are in heaven.

having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him, I say, whether the things on earth, or those in the heavens.

21 And you, though you had been, in times past, understood to be foreigners and enemies, with works of evil,

And you, that were once alienated, and enemies in your mind in wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22 yet now he has reconciled you, by his body of flesh, through death, so as to offer you, holy and immaculate and blameless, before him.

in the body of his flesh through his death, to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in his sight;

23 So then, continue in the faith: well-founded and steadfast and immovable, by the hope of the Gospel that you have heard, which has been preached throughout all creation under heaven, the Gospel of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

if ye indeed continue in the faith grounded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye heard, which hath been preached in the whole creation under heaven; of which I Paul became a minister.

24 For now I rejoice in my passion on your behalf, and I complete in my flesh the things that are lacking in the Passion of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the Church.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up instead that which is wanting of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh on behalf of his body, which is the church;

25 For I have become a minister of the Church, according to the dispensation of God that has been given to me among you, so that I may fulfill the Word of God,

of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship which God entrusted to me, for you, to fulfill the word of God,

26 the mystery which had remained hidden to past ages and generations, but which now is manifested to his saints. (aiōn g165)

the mystery which hath been hidden for ages and generations, but hath been now revealed to his saints; (aiōn g165)

27 To them, God willed to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ and the hope of his glory within you.

to whom it was the will of God to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory;

28 We are announcing him, correcting every man and teaching every man, with all wisdom, so that we may offer every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;

29 In him, too, I labor, striving according to his action within me, which he works in virtue.

to which end I also am laboring, striving earnestly through his working, which worketh within me mightily.