Colossians 1

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

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God--and Timothy our brother:

2 Unto the holy and faithful brethren in Christ that are, in Colosse, favour unto you, and peace, from our God and Father.

To the people of God and the believing brethren at Colossae who are in Christ. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father.

3 We are giving thanks unto God, the Father of our Lord Jesus [Christ], always, for you, offering prayer, —

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, constantly praying for you as we do,

4 Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which ye have unto all the saints, —

because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you cherish towards all God's people,

5 Because of the hope that is lying by for you in the heavens, of which ye heard before, in the word of the truth of the glad-message,

on account of the hope treasured up for you in Heaven. Of this hope you have already heard in the Message of the truth of the Good News.

6 When it presented itself unto you; even as, in all the world also, it is bearing fruit and growing, even as also among you, from the day when ye heard, and came personally to know the favour of God in truth,

For it has reached you, and remains with you, just as it has also spread through the whole world, yielding fruit there and increasing, as it has done among you from the day when first you heard it and came really to know the grace of God,

7 Even as ye learned [it] from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant, who is faithful in our behalf, as a minister of the Christ,

as you learned it from Epaphras our dearly-loved fellow servant. He is to you a faithful minister of Christ in our stead,

8 Who also hath made evident unto us your love in spirit.

and moreover he has informed us of your love, which is inspired by the Spirit.

9 For this cause, we also, from the day when we heard [of you], cease not, in your behalf, praying and asking—that ye may be filled unto the personal knowledge of his will, in all spiritual wisdom and discernment,

For this reason we also, from the day we first received these tidings, have never ceased to pray for you and to entreat that you may be filled with a clear knowledge of His will accompanied by thorough wisdom and discernment in spiritual things;

10 So as to walk worthily of the Lord, unto all pleasing, in every good work, bearing fruit, and growing in the personal knowledge of God,

so that your lives may be worthy of the Lord and perfectly pleasing to Him, while you exhibit the results of right action of every sort and grow into a fuller knowledge of God.

11 With all power, being empowered, according to the grasp of his glory, unto all endurance and long-suffering with joy,

Since His power is so glorious, may you be strengthened with strength of every kind, and be prepared for cheerfully enduring all things with patience and long-suffering;

12 Giving thanks unto the Father that hath made you sufficient for your share in the inheritance of the saints in the light,

and give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the inheritance of God's people in Light.

13 Who hath rescued us out of the authority of the darkness, and translated [us] into the kingdom of the Son of his love;

It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the Kingdom of His dearly-loved Son,

14 In whom, we have our redemption—the remission of our sins, —

in whom we have our redemption--the forgiveness of our sins.

15 Who, is an image of the unseen God, Firstborn of all creation, —

Christ is the visible representation of the invisible God, the Firstborn and Lord of all creation.

16 Because, in him, were created all things in the heavens and upon the earth, the things seen and the things unseen, whether thrones or lordships or principalities or authorities, —they all, through him and for him, have been created,

For in Him was created the universe of things in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers--all were created, and exist through and for Him.

17 And, he, is before all, and, they all, in him, hold together;

And HE IS before all things and in and through Him the universe is a harmonious whole.

18 And, he, is the head of the body, the assembly, Who is the beginning, Firstborn from among the dead, in order that, he, might become, in all things, himself, pre-eminent; —

Moreover He is the Head of His Body, the Church. He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, in order that He Himself may in all things occupy the foremost place.

19 Because, in him, was all the fullness well pleased to dwell,

For it was the Father's gracious will that the whole of the divine perfections should dwell in Him.

20 And, through him, fully to reconcile all things unto him, making peace through the blood of his cross, —[through him]—whether the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens;

And God purposed through Him to reconcile the universe to Himself, making peace through His blood, which was shed upon the Cross--to reconcile to Himself through Him, I say, things on earth and things in Heaven.

21 And, you, who at one time were estranged and enemies in your mind in your wicked works, yet, now, hath he fully reconciled,

And you, estranged as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds,

22 In his body of flesh, through means of his death, to present you holy and blameless and unaccusable before him, —

He has now, in His human body, reconciled to God by His death, to bring you, holy and faultless and irreproachable, into His presence;

23 If, at least, ye are abiding still in the faith, founded and firm, and not to be moved away from the hope of the glad-message which ye have heard, which hath been proclaimed in all creation which is under heaven, —of which, I Paul, have become minister.

if, indeed, you are still firmly holding to faith as your foundation, without ever shifting from your hope that rests on the Good News that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under Heaven, and in which I Paul have been appointed to serve.

24 Now, am I rejoicing in the sufferings on your behalf, and am filling up the things that lack of the tribulations of the Christ, in my flesh, in behalf of his body, which is the assembly,

Now I can find joy amid my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my own person whatever is lacking in Christ's afflictions on behalf of His Body, the Church.

25 Of which, I, have become minister—according to the administration of God which hath been given unto me to you-ward, to fill up the word of God,

I have been appointed to serve the Church in the position of responsibility entrusted to me by God for your benefit, so that I may fully deliver God's Message--

26 The sacred secret which had been hidden away from the ages and from the generations, but, now, hath been made manifest unto his saints— (aiōn g165)

the truth which has been kept secret from all ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His people, (aiōn g165)

27 Unto whom God hath been pleased to make known what is the glorious wealth of this sacred secret among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of the glory, —

to whom it was His will to make known how vast a wealth of glory for the Gentile world is implied in this truth--the truth that 'Christ is in you, the hope of glory.'

28 Whom we are declaring, admonishing every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, in order that we may present every man complete in Christ;

Him we preach, admonishing every one and instructing every one, with all possible wisdom, so that we may bring every one into God's presence, made perfect through Christ.

29 Unto which I am even toiling, contending according to his energy which is energising itself in me with power.

To this end, like an earnest wrestler, I exert all my strength in reliance upon the power of Him who is mightily at work within me.