Colossiens 1
1 Paul, apôtre du christ Jésus par la volonté de Dieu, et Timothée, le frère,
I, Paul, [am writing this letter to you], and our fellow believer Timothy [is with me]. I am an apostle who represents Christ Jesus, because that is what God wanted.
2 aux saints et fidèles frères en Christ qui sont à Colasses: Grâce et paix à vous, de la part de Dieu notre Père [et du seigneur Jésus Christ]!
[I am sending this letter] to you who are in Colossae [city], and who are God’s people, and our faithful fellow believers who have a close relationship with Christ. We pray that God our Father will be acting kindly towards you, and that he will cause you to have [inner] peace.
3 Nous rendons grâces au Dieu et Père de notre seigneur Jésus Christ, priant toujours pour vous,
Very often [HYP] we thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, while we are praying for you,
4 ayant entendu parler de votre foi dans le christ Jésus et de l’amour que vous avez pour tous les saints,
because we have heard that you believe in Christ Jesus, and that you love all God’s people.
5 à cause de l’espérance qui vous est réservée dans les cieux et dont vous avez déjà entendu parler dans la parole de la vérité de l’évangile,
You do that because you confidently expect to receive that which God is (reserving/keeping safe) for you in heaven, which you heard about previously when you heard the true message, that is, the message [about Christ].
6 qui est parvenu jusqu’à vous, comme aussi [il l’est] dans tout le monde, et qui porte du fruit et croît, comme aussi parmi vous, depuis le jour où vous avez entendu et connu la grâce de Dieu en vérité,
[People] proclaimed it [PRS] to you, just like [people] have proclaimed it in many different countries [HYP, IDM]. The true message is changing more and more people’s lives, just like it changed your lives because you heard it and you truly experienced that God acts kindly towards us in ways we do not deserve.
7 comme vous l’avez entendue d’Épaphras, notre bien-aimé compagnon de service, qui est un fidèle serviteur du Christ pour vous,
That is just what Epaphras taught you [would happen]. We love Epaphras. He serves Christ together with us and works for Christ faithfully for your benefit.
8 qui nous a aussi fait connaître votre amour dans l’Esprit.
He told us that you love [all God’s people], just like God’s Spirit [has enabled you to] (OR, spiritually).
9 C’est pourquoi nous aussi, depuis le jour où nous en avons entendu parler, nous ne cessons pas de prier et de demander pour vous que vous soyez remplis de la connaissance de sa volonté, en toute sagesse et intelligence spirituelle,
Because of what we heard about you, we have also been praying [LIT] very often to God for you [HYP], ever since we heard this report about you. We pray that you will truly know all that God wants you to do; that is, that you will become very wise, and that you will understand spiritual matters well.
10 pour marcher d’une manière digne du Seigneur pour lui plaire à tous égards, portant du fruit en toute bonne œuvre, et croissant par la connaissance de Dieu:
We have been praying like that in order that you will conduct yourselves as the Lord’s people should conduct themselves, in order that you will please the Lord in every way. Specifically, we have been praying like that in order that you will be doing every sort of good deed [IDM] and in order that you will be getting to know God truly, more and more.
11 étant fortifiés en toute force, selon la puissance de sa gloire, pour toute patience et constance, avec joie,
And we pray that [God] will greatly strengthen you [spiritually] with the mighty power that he has shown [to people], in order that you will always be steadfast and patient [when you experience difficulties], while [at the same time] you will be rejoicing.
12 rendant grâces au Père qui nous a rendus capables de participer au lot des saints dans la lumière;
And we pray that you will be thanking God our Father, because he has enabled you/us to receive the things that he will give to his people in heaven [SYN].
13 qui nous a délivrés du pouvoir des ténèbres, et nous a transportés dans le royaume du Fils de son amour,
God our Father rescued us [spiritually] so that the evil one no longer rules us [MET, MTY], and he caused us now to be ruled by his Son, whom he loves.
14 en qui nous avons la rédemption, la rémission des péchés;
That is, because of our relationship with his Son (OR, because of what the one who is also God did), God has redeemed/bought us; in particular, he has forgiven our sins.
15 qui est [l’]image du Dieu invisible, [le] premier-né de toute [la] création;
God’s Son reveals perfectly what God, his Father, is like, whom no one can see. God’s Son existed before and ranks above everything that God has created.
16 car par lui ont été créées toutes choses, les choses qui sont dans les cieux et les choses qui sont sur la terre, les visibles et les invisibles, soit trônes, ou seigneuries, ou principautés, ou autorités: toutes choses ont été créées par lui et pour lui;
When God created everything that is on the earth, he did it by having his Son do it. He created everything that [people] can see, and also everything which is in heaven that [people] cannot see. In particular, his Son created all ranks of important spirit beings. [And his Son ranks above everything], because God by the work of had his Son, and because by his Son all things were created {because [God] had his Son create everything} in order that everything might praise his Son,
17 et lui est avant toutes choses, et toutes choses subsistent par lui;
and because it is his Son who existed before anything else existed, and because God sustains everything by what his Son [does].
18 et il est le chef du corps, de l’assemblée, lui qui est [le] commencement, [le] premier-né d’entre les morts, afin qu’en toutes choses il tienne, lui, la première place;
And [God’s Son ranks above everything], because it is his Son who [rules over his people] [MET] [as a person’s] head [controls his physical] body, because his Son causes his people to live [spiritually]. [God’s Son] is the first one who became alive again, in order that he should become more important than anything and everyone.
19 car, en lui, toute la plénitude s’est plu à habiter,
[God’s Son reveals perfectly what God his Father is like], because his Father chose to live completely in him.
20 et, par lui, à réconcilier toutes choses avec elle-même, ayant fait la paix par le sang de sa croix, par lui, soit les choses qui sont sur la terre, soit les choses qui sont dans les cieux.
[God our Father caused his Son to rule us], because he decided to reconcile with himself everything that is on earth and that is in heaven by what his Son did, in order that everything might honor his Son; that is, God our Father decided to reconcile everything to himself as a result of his [Son’s] blood [flowing when he died] on the cross. [The chiastic material is rearranged below so that the directly related propositional clusters are joined together.] 13 God our Father rescued us [spiritually] so that we are no longer ruled by the evil one, and God our Father caused us now to be ruled by his Son (OR, the man who is also God) whom he loves. 14a That is, by means of what his Son did, we have been redeemed by God, our Father. 14b In particular, our sins have been forgiven by God, our Father. 20 God, our Father, has done this because he decided to reconcile to himself, by means of his Son, everything that is on earth and that is in heaven, in order that his Son might be honored; that is, God, our Father decided to reconcile everything to himself by means of God’s Son’s blood [flowing out when he died] on the cross. 15b God cannot be seen by anyone, 15a but his Son reveals perfectly what God—his Father—is like, 19a because it is in his Son that the Father chose 19b that he himself would dwell completely. 15c God’s Son ranks above everything 15d that has been created, 16 because it was by means of God’s Son that God created everything that is on the earth and that can be seen by people, and also everything that is in heaven and that cannot be seen by people. In particular, all types of important spirit beings were created by means of him, since everything has been created by God by means of God’s Son. And his Son ranks above everything, because everything has been created by God, in order that God’s Son might be honored by everything, 17 and because it is he who existed before anything else existed, and since everything is sustained by God by means of God’s Son. 18 And God’s Son ranks above everything because it is he who [rules over all believers, just like a person’s] head [controls his physical body, because he causes all believers to live spiritually]. His Son is the first one who rose from among those who have died, in order that he should become more important than everything and everyone.
21 Et vous qui étiez autrefois étrangers et ennemis quant à votre entendement, dans les mauvaises œuvres,
As for you, [although] formerly God [considered you his] enemies (OR, [God considered you] as alienated [from him]) and [although] you were formerly hostile [to God] because you thought evil thoughts and because you did evil deeds,
22 il vous a toutefois maintenant réconciliés dans le corps de sa chair, par la mort, pour vous présenter saints et irréprochables et irrépréhensibles devant lui,
nevertheless, God our Father has now reconciled you [with himself. He did that] as a result of his Son dying physically. He did it in order that you should be completely holy when he brings you into his presence.
23 si du moins vous demeurez dans la foi, fondés et fermes, et ne vous laissant pas détourner de l’espérance de l’évangile que vous avez entendu, lequel a été prêché dans toute la création qui est sous le ciel, [et] duquel moi, Paul, je suis devenu serviteur.
He wants you to continue [DOU] to believe the message about Christ; specifically, he wants you to continue to be stable/steadfast and to continue to confidently expect to receive that which you heard about when you heard that message. That message has been proclaimed {They have proclaimed that message} to people in very many places [HYP]; and I, Paul, also become someone who tells it to people.
24 Maintenant, je me réjouis dans les souffrances pour vous, et j’accomplis dans ma chair ce qui reste [encore à souffrir] des afflictions du Christ pour son corps qui est l’assemblée,
At the present time I am rejoicing that I am suffering for your benefit; that is, I am completing what Christ [decided] that I should suffer physically for the benefit of all believers, [who are as dear to him as] his own body.
25 de laquelle moi je suis devenu serviteur selon l’administration de Dieu qui m’a été donnée envers vous, pour compléter la parole de Dieu,
I myself became someone who serves God’s people, because I was appointed {[God] appointed me} to be responsible to [help] you [who are non-Jews]. I became one who serves God’s people in order that I should make known to you non-Jews the whole message from/about God.
26 [savoir] le mystère qui avait été caché dès les siècles et dès les générations, mais qui a été maintenant manifesté à ses saints, (aiōn g165)
[We did not know this message previously; that is, God] concealed it from [the people who lived in all] the previous ages, but he has now revealed it to his people. (aiōn g165)
27 auxquels Dieu a voulu donner à connaître quelles sont les richesses de la gloire de ce mystère parmi les nations, c’est-[à-dire] Christ en vous l’espérance de la gloire,
That is, God decided to reveal to them this message, which declares that he will greatly bless the non-Jews. Specifically, this message declares that Christ, [by his Spirit], will live in you who are non-Jews, with the result that you confidently expect that you will experience how glorious [God is].
28 lequel nous annonçons, exhortant tout homme et enseignant tout homme en toute sagesse, afin que nous présentions tout homme parfait en Christ:
We tell about Christ [to every class of persons]; we warn them, and specifically, we teach everyone very wisely. We do this in order that every person who (has a close relationship with/is united to) Christ may be (all that God wants them to be/perfect) when we present them to Christ.
29 à quoi aussi je travaille, combattant selon son opération qui opère en moi avec puissance.
In order that I might [achieve/accomplish this], I am also working very hard, depending on Christ to empowering me very greatly.
