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

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

to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Sovereign Jesus Christ.

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

We always give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you

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

(having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love 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 is being reserved for you in the heavens, of which you have already heard through the Word of the Truth

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.

(the Gospel that has come to you just as also in all the world, where it is producing fruit and growing just as also among you, from the day in which you heard about and truly understood God's grace),

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

even as you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf,

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

who also reported to us your love in 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.

For this very reason, since the day we heard of it, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the real knowledge of His will in 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.

in order for you to walk worthily of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way, being fruitful in every good work and growing into the real knowledge of God;

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

being enabled with all capability according to the strength that resides in His glory, for all endurance and steadfastness.

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.

Nor have we stopped giving thanks joyfully to the Father who has qualified us for the share in the inheritance 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,

who delivered us out of the dominion of the darkness and 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 the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins.

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

He is the visible representation of the invisible God, ‘Firstborn’ over all creation,

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.

because by Him all things were created—those in the heavens and those on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

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

Yes, He is before all, and in Him all things subsist.

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.

Also, He is the Head of the body, the Church. He is Beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that He may be preeminent in everything,

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

because in Him all the Fullness was pleased to dwell

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 through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him, whether things on the earth or things on the heavens.

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

So now He has reconciled you as well (you who once were alienated and hostile in your mind because of your wicked works),

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

by His physical body through His death, so as to present you before Him holy and blameless and above reproach—

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.

if, that is, you continue in the Faith established and firm, not drifting away from the hope of the Gospel, that you heard and that was proclaimed in all the creation under the heaven, of which I, Paul, became a servant.

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.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf and supplement in my flesh the things lacking in the afflictions 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.

of which I became a servant according to the stewardship from God that was given to me towards you, to complete 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 secret that has been hidden from past ages and generations, but now has been revealed 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 whom God resolved to make known who is the wealth of the glory of this secret among the nations, namely Christ in you, the hope of glory;

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.

whom we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ.

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.

It is to this end that I labor, striving according to His working that works through me with power.