Colossians 1

1 This letter comes from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the will of God, and from our brother Timothy.

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

2 To the believers and trusting Christians at Colossae: may you have grace and peace from God our Father.

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

3 We are always thankful to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for you, and pray for you.

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.

4 We've heard about your trust in Christ Jesus and your love for all the believers

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

5 because of the hope prepared for you in heaven. You already heard about this in the good news, the message of truth

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.

6 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.

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,

7 Our dear friend and fellow-worker Epaphras, who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on our behalf, taught you about this.

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

8 He's also made clear to us your love in the Spirit.

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

9 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.

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,

10 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.

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,

11 May you be made powerfully strong by his wonderful strength, having great patience and endurance.

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

12 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.

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

13 He rescued us from the tyranny of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

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

14 through whom we have been set free and our sins forgiven.

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

15 The Son is the visible picture of the invisible God. He was before all creation,

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

16 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.

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.

17 He existed before everything, and he holds everything together.

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

18 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.

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.

19 God was pleased to have his full nature live in him,

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

20 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.

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.

21 You once were alienated from God, enemies in the way you thought and the way you acted,

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

22 but now he has reconciled you through his dying human body, bringing you into his presence where you stand holy, pure, and faultless.

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.

23 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.

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.

24 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.

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.

25 I serve the church following the direction God gave me about you, to present fully the word of God to you.

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,

26 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)

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

27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious wealth of this mystery to the nations: Christ living in you is the glorious hope!

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.

28 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.

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.

29 That's what I'm working for too, making every effort as I rely on his strength which is powerfully at work in me.

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