Colossians 1
1
Greetings from Paul
1This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters#1:2 Greek faithful brothers. in Christ.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.#1:7 Or he is ministering on your behalf; some manuscripts read he is ministering on our behalf. 8He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,#1:11 Or all the patience and endurance you need with joy. 12always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14who purchased our freedom#1:14 Some manuscripts add with his blood. and forgave our sins.
Christ Is Supreme
15Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,#1:15 Or He is the firstborn of all creation.
16for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.#1:18 Or the firstborn from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
19For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Paul’s Work for the Church
24I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. 25God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. 26This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
28So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect#1:28 Or mature. in their relationship to Christ. 29That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
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Colossians 1: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Colossians 1
1
Only Christ Can Save People
1From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.
Also from Timothy, our brother.
2To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ that live in Colosse. Grace and peace from God our Father.# Some Greek copies continue, “and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
3In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4We thank God because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. 5You have this faith and love because of your hope, and what you hope for is saved for you in heaven. You learned about this hope when you heard the true teaching, the Good News 6that was told to you. Everywhere in the world that Good News is bringing blessings and is growing. This has happened with you, too, since you heard the Good News and understood the truth about the grace of God. 7You learned about God’s grace from Epaphras, whom we love. Epaphras works together with us and is a faithful servant of Christ for us.# Some Greek copies read “for you.” 8He also told us about the love you have from the Holy Spirit.
9Since the day we heard this about you, we have continued praying for you. We ask God that you will know fully what God wants. We pray that you will also have great wisdom and understanding in spiritual things. 10Then you will live the kind of life that honors and pleases the Lord in every way. You will produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. 11Then God will strengthen you with his own great power. And you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient. 12Then you will joyfully give thanks to the Father. He has made you# Some Greek copies read “us.” able to have all that he has prepared for his people who live in the light. 13God made us free from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 14The Son paid for our sins,# Some Greek copies continue, “with his blood.” and in him we have forgiveness.
The Importance of Christ
15No one has seen God, but Jesus is exactly like him. Christ ranks higher than all the things that have been made. 16Through his power all things were made—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ. 17Christ was there before anything was made. And all things continue because of him. 18He is the head of the body. (The body is the church.) Everything comes from him. And he is the first one who was raised from death. So in all things Jesus is most important. 19God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ. 20And through Christ, God decided to bring all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace by using the blood of Christ’s death on the cross.
21At one time you were separated from God. You were God’s enemies in your minds because the evil deeds you did were against God. 22But now Christ has made you God’s friends again. He did this by his death while he was in the body, that he might bring you into God’s presence. He brings you before God as people who are holy, with no wrong in you, and with nothing that God can judge you guilty of. 23And Christ will do this if you continue to believe in the Good News you heard. You must continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope that Good News gave you. That same Good News has been told to everyone in the world. I, Paul, help in preaching that Good News.
Paul’s Work for the Church
24I am happy in my sufferings for you. There are many things that Christ must still suffer through his body, the church. I am accepting my part of these things that must be suffered. I accept these sufferings in my body. I suffer for his body, the church. 25I became a servant of the church because God gave me a special work to do that helps you. My work is to tell fully the teaching of God. 26This teaching is the secret truth that was hidden since the beginning of time. It was hidden from everyone, but now it is made known to God’s holy people. 27God decided to let his people know this rich and glorious truth which he has for all people. This truth is Christ himself, who is in you. He is our only hope for glory. 28So we continue to preach Christ to all men. We use all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone. We are trying to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature person in Christ. 29To do this, I work and struggle, using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me.
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