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 our brother,

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

to the holy and believing brothers in Christ who are in Colosse. Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father.

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

Whenever I pray for you I am continually thanking God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints,

(since I heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love to all the saints)

5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Long ago you heard of this hope in the message which came to you of the truth of the gospel.

6 which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth,

And just as it is spreading through the whole world, bearing fruit and increasing, so also is it among you, from the day in which you heard it, and came truly to know the grace of God,

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

as you learned it from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful minister of Jesus Christ in your behalf,

8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

and it is he who has told me of your love for me in the spirit.

9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

For this reason from the day I heard of it I have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will with every kind of wisdom and spiritual insight;

10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,

that you may walk worthy of the Lord in every kind of pleasing; that you may be fruitful in every kind of good work, and may increase in the knowledge of God;

11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy,

that you may be strengthened in every kind of strength by the might of his glory for every kind of patience and fortitude with good cheer.

12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,

I ask that you may give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the heritage of the saints in the light.

13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love,

For he has delivered us out of the dominion of the darkness, and transplanted us into the kingdom of his dear Son,

14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.

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

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

He is a visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.

for in him was the universe created, things in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; by him and for him all have been created;

17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

and HE IS before all, and in him all things subsist.

18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

He is the head of his Body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in order that in all things he may become preeminent.

19 For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,

For in him all the divine fulness chose to dwell;

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

and by him it chose to reconcile all things alike on earth or in heaven to himself; making peace by him, through the blood of his cross.

21 You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,

And you, alienated as you once were, hostile at heart in your evil deeds,

22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,

he has now in his human body reconciled to God by his death, in order that he may bring you into his presence, holy and unblemished and irreproachable.

23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

And this he will do if, indeed, you continue in the faith, firmly founded and stedfast, and never moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, and which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, that gospel of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly,

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings on your behalf; and I am filling up in my own body what is yet lacking of the sufferings of Christ in behalf of the church, his Body.

25 of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,

It is of this I was made a minister, according to the stewardship entrusted to me by God for you, fully to declare God’s message;

26 the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, (aiōn g165)

that secret truth, which, although hidden from ages and generations of old, has now been made manifest to his saints. (aiōn g165)

27 to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

To them God willed to make known among the Gentiles how glorious are the riches of that secret truth, which is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

28 We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;

Him I am ever proclaiming, warning every one and teaching every one, in all wisdom; that I may bring every man into his presence, full grown in Christ.

29 for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

For that end I am ever toiling, wrestling with all that energy of his which is mightily at work within me.