1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus ①by the will of God, and Timothy ②our brother,
▷ ①Lit through ②Lit the
1:2 To the ①saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
▷ ①Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
1:3 We ①give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
▷ ①Or always give...praying for you
1:4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have ①for all the ②saints;
▷ ①Or toward ②Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
1:5 because of the hope reserved for you in ①heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, ②the gospel
▷ ①Lit the heavens ②Or of the gospel
1:6 which has come to you, just as ①in all the world also it is bearing fruit and ②increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard it and ③understood the grace of God in truth;
▷ ①Or spreading abroad ②Or came to fully know ③Or it is in all the world also, bearing
1:7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,
1:8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.
1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the ①knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
▷ ①Or real knowledge
1:10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ①to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and ②increasing in the ③knowledge of God;
▷ ①Lit unto all pleasing ②Or growing by the knowledge ③Or real knowledge
1:11 strengthened with all power, according to ①His glorious might, ②for the attaining of all perseverance and ③patience; joyously
▷ ①Lit the might of His glory ②Lit unto all ③Or patience with joy
1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us ①to share in the inheritance of the ②saints in light.
▷ ①Lit unto the portion of ②Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
1:13 ①For He rescued us from the ②domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ③His beloved Son,
▷ ①Lit Who rescued ②Lit authority ③Lit the Son of His love
1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
1:15 ①He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation:
▷ ①Lit Who is
1:16 for ①by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
▷ ①Or in
1:17 He ①is before all things, and in Him all things ②hold together.
▷ ①Or has existed prior to ②Or endure
1:18 He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
1:19 For ①it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the ②fullness to dwell in Him,
▷ ①Or all the fullness was pleased to dwell ②I.e., fullness of deity
1:20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in ①heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
▷ ①Lit the heavens
1:21 And although you were previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds,
1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
1:23 if indeed you continue in ①the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, ②was made a ③minister.
▷ ①Or in faith ②Lit became ③Or servant
1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am supplementing what is lacking ①in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of His body, which is the church.
▷ ①Lit of
1:25 I ①was made a minister of this church according to the commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might ②fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
▷ ①Lit became ②Lit make full the word of God
1:26 that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His ①saints,
▷ ①Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
1:27 to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every person and teaching every person ①with all wisdom, so that we may present every person ②complete in Christ.
▷ ①Lit in ②Or perfect
1:29 For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His ①power which ②works mightily within me.
▷ ①Lit working ②Lit in power