Colossians 1

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, also a follower of the Lord.

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

2 To Christ’s people at Colossae – the followers who are faithful to him: May God, our Father, bless you and give you peace.

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

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

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

4 now that we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all his people,

having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love toward all the sanctified,

5 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,

because of the hope being reserved for you in the heavens, which ye heard before in the word of the truth of the good news

6 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.

being present for you, just as also in all the world. And it is bearing fruit and increasing, just as also among you from the day that ye heard and recognized the grace of God in truth.

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

Just as also ye learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow bondman, who is a faithful helper of the Christ for you,

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

the man who also made clear to us your love in spirit.

9 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.

Because of this we also, from the day that we heard, cease not praying for you and making request that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

10 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;

For you to walk worthily of the Lord for every desire to please, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing in the knowledge of God,

11 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;

being strengthened in every ability, according to the dominion of his glory, for all perseverance and longsuffering with joy.

12 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.

Giving thanks to the Father who made us qualified for the share of the portion of the sanctified in light.

13 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,

Who rescued us out of the power of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,

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

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

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

who is an image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16 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.

Because in him all things were created, things in the heavens and things upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or lordships or principal offices or positions of authority, all things have been created through him, and for him.

17 All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him;

And he is before all, and in him all things hold together.

18 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.

And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might become preeminent in all things.

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

Because in him it was considered good for all the fullness to dwell,

20 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.

and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him whether things upon the earth or things in the heavens.

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

And you, being formerly alienated and hostile in mind, in works, in things evil. But now he has reconciled

22 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,

in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblemished and unblameable before him.

23 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.

If ye truly continue in the faith, founded, and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the good news that ye heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I Paul became a helper.

24 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;

I now rejoice in sufferings for you, and make complete in my flesh things lacking of the afflictions of the Christ for his body, which is the church.

25 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 –

Of which I became a helper according to the administration of God, which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God,

26 that truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to God’s people, (aiōn g165)

the mystery that was hidden from the ages and from the generations, but has now been made known to his sanctified. (aiōn g165)

27 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!”

To whom God wanted to make known what is the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 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.

Whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

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

For which also I labor, striving according to his working, which works in me with power.