Colossians 1

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

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

2 to the believers and faithful brothers in Christ who are at Colossae. May grace be to you, and peace from God our Father.

to the saints at Colosse, and to the faithful brethren in Christ: grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

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

4 We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all those set apart for God.

having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love ye show to all the saints;

5 You have this love because of the certain hope reserved for you in heaven. You heard about this confident expectation before in the word of truth, the gospel,

because of the hope laid up for you in the heavens, which ye have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel,

6 which has come to you. This gospel is bearing fruit and is growing in all the world. It has been doing this in you also from the day you heard it and learned about the grace of God in truth.

which is come unto you, as it is also unto all the world; and beareth fruit, as also among you, from the day that ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth;

7 This is the gospel as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf.

even as ye have learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow-labourer, who is a faithful minister of Christ for you;

8 Epaphras has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

9 Because of this love, from the day we heard this we have not stopped praying for you. We have been asking that you will be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

For this cause we also from the day we heard it have not ceased praying for you, and beseeching God that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

10 We have been praying that you will walk worthily of the Lord in pleasing ways. We have been praying that you will bear fruit in every good deed and that you will grow in the knowledge of God.

that ye may walk worthy of the Lord, well pleasing him in all things, in every good work fruitful, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 We pray you may be strengthened in every ability according to the power of his glory into all perseverance and patience.

strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joy;

12 We pray that you will joyfully give thanks to the Father, who has made you able to have a share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

giving thanks to God, even the Father, who hath made us meet for a portion in the inheritance of the saints in light;

13 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

who hath plucked us out from the dominion of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love:

14 In his Son we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

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

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of all creation.

Who is the image of the invisible God, the prime author of all creation:

16 For by him all things were created, those in the heavens and those on the earth, the visible and the invisible things. Whether thrones or dominions or governments or authorities, all things were created by him and for him.

for by him were all things created, celestial and terrestrial, visible or invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers, all were created by him, and for him:

17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

and he is before all, and by him all things subsist.

18 He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so he has first place among all things.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first begotten from the dead, that he might be in all things pre-eminent.

19 For God was pleased that all his fullness should live in him,

For it hath pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell;

20 and to reconcile through the Son all things to himself. God made peace through the blood of his cross. God reconciled all things to himself, whether the things on the earth or the things in heaven.

and by him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace by the blood of his cross: by him, I say, whether they be things on earth, or things in the heavens.

21 At one time, you also were strangers to God and were his enemies in mind and in evil deeds.

And you who in time past were all aliens, and enemies in mind by wicked works, hath he now reconciled,

22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death. He did this in order to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach before him,

by the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and irreprehensible in his presence:

23 if you continue in the faith, established and firm, not moved away from the certain hope of the gospel that you heard. This is the gospel that was proclaimed to every person created under heaven. This is the gospel of which I, Paul, became a servant.

if ye abide in faith grounded and firm, and never moved aside from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which hath been preached to the whole creation which is under heaven, of which I Paul am a minister.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh the measure of afflictions for Christ which remains to be endured for his body, which is the church,

25 It is of this church that I am a servant, according to the responsibility from God that was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God.

of which I am a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which was given me for you to fulfil the ministry of the word of God―

26 This is the secret truth that was hidden for ages and for generations. But now it has been revealed to those who believe in him. (aiōn g165)

the mystery which was hid from ages and from generations, but is now unveiled to his saints; (aiōn g165)

27 It is to them that God wanted to make known the riches of the glory of this secret truth among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

28 This is he whom we proclaim. We admonish every person, and we teach every person with all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ.

whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;

29 For this I labor and strive according to his energy that is at work in me in power.

for which also I am labouring, conflicting in the energy of his might, which worketh in me powerfully.