Colossians 1
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and from Timothy, also a follower of the Lord.
Παῦλος, ἀπόστολος ˚Χριστοῦ ˚Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος ˚Θεοῦ, καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφὸς,
2 To Christ’s people at Colossae – the followers who are faithful to him: May God, our Father, bless you and give you peace.
τοῖς ἐν Κολοσσαῖς ἁγίοις, καὶ πιστοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐν ˚Χριστῷ: χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ ˚Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ˚Κυρίου ˚Ἰησοῦ ˚Χριστοῦ.
3 Whenever we pray we never fail to thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for you,
Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ ˚Θεῷ Πατρὶ τοῦ ˚Κυρίου ἡμῶν ˚Ἰησοῦ ˚Χριστοῦ, πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι,
4 now that we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all his people,
ἀκούσαντες τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν ἐν ˚Χριστῷ ˚Ἰησοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχετε εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους,
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,
διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τὴν ἀποκειμένην ὑμῖν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἣν προηκούσατε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, τοῦ εὐαγγελίου,
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.
τοῦ παρόντος εἰς ὑμᾶς, καθὼς καὶ ἐν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ, ἐστὶν καρποφορούμενον καὶ αὐξανόμενον, καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐπέγνωτε τὴν χάριν τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ·
7 It is just what you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who, as a minister of the Christ, faithfully represents us,
καθὼς ἐμάθετε ἀπὸ Ἐπαφρᾶ, τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ συνδούλου ἡμῶν, ὅς ἐστιν πιστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν διάκονος τοῦ ˚Χριστοῦ,
8 and who told us of the love with which the Spirit has inspired you.
ὁ καὶ δηλώσας ἡμῖν τὴν ὑμῶν ἀγάπην ἐν ˚Πνεύματι.
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.
Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν, οὐ παυόμεθα ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καὶ αἰτούμενοι, ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ,
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;
περιπατῆσαι ἀξίως τοῦ ˚Κυρίου εἰς πᾶσαν ἀρεσκείαν, ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες, καὶ αὐξανόμενοι τῇ ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ,
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;
ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει δυναμούμενοι, κατὰ τὸ κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, εἰς πᾶσαν ὑπομονὴν καὶ μακροθυμίαν μετὰ χαρᾶς,
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.
εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ Πατρὶ, τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί,
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,
ὃς ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους, καὶ μετέστησεν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ,
14 and through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.
ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν, τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν·
15 For Christ is the incarnation of the invisible God – firstborn and head of all creation;
ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως,
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.
ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι, εἴτε κυριότητες, εἴτε ἀρχαὶ, εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται.
17 All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him;
Καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων, καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν.
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.
Καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος, τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων,
19 For it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should live,
ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι,
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.
καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν, εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ διʼ αὐτοῦ, εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, εἴτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
21 And it pleased God that you, once estranged from him and hostile towards him in your thoughts, intent only on wickedness –
Καὶ ὑμᾶς ποτε ὄντας ἀπηλλοτριωμένους καὶ ἐχθροὺς τῇ διανοίᾳ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς,
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,
νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκατηλλάγητε ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, παραστῆσαι ὑμᾶς ἁγίους, καὶ ἀμώμους, καὶ ἀνεγκλήτους, κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ–
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.
εἴ γε ἐπιμένετε τῇ πίστει, τεθεμελιωμένοι καὶ ἑδραῖοι, καὶ μὴ μετακινούμενοι ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὗ ἠκούσατε, τοῦ κηρυχθέντος ἐν πάσῃ κτίσει τῇ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν, οὗ ἐγενόμην ἐγὼ Παῦλος διάκονος.
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;
Νῦν χαίρω ἐν τοῖς παθήμασιν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, καὶ ἀνταναπληρῶ τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ ˚Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου ὑπὲρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ ἐκκλησία,
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 –
ἧς ἐγενόμην ἐγὼ διάκονος, κατὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ, τὴν δοθεῖσάν μοι εἰς ὑμᾶς πληρῶσαι τὸν λόγον τοῦ ˚Θεοῦ,
26 that truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to God’s people, (aiōn g165)
τὸ μυστήριον τὸ ἀποκεκρυμμένον ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν γενεῶν, νῦν δὲ ἐφανερώθη τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ, (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!”
οἷς ἠθέλησεν ὁ ˚Θεὸς, γνωρίσαι τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τοῦ μυστηρίου τούτου ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὅ ἐστιν ˚Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δόξης·
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.
ὃν ἡμεῖς καταγγέλλομεν, νουθετοῦντες πάντα ἄνθρωπον καὶ διδάσκοντες πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ, ἵνα παραστήσωμεν πάντα ἄνθρωπον τέλειον ἐν ˚Χριστῷ.
29 It is for that I toil, struggling with all the energy which he inspires and which works powerfully within me.
Εἰς ὃ καὶ κοπιῶ, ἀγωνιζόμενος κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν αὐτοῦ, τὴν ἐνεργουμένην ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐν δυνάμει.
