Colossians 1
1
Greetings
1From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, who is also a follower.
2To God's people who live in Colossae and are faithful followers of Christ.
I pray that God our Father will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
A prayer of thanks
3Each time we pray for you, we thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4We have heard of your faith in Christ and of your love for all God's people, 5because what you hope for is kept safe for you in heaven. You first heard about this hope when you believed the true message, which is the good news.
6The good news is spreading all over the world with great success. It has spread in that same way among you, ever since the first day you learnt the truth about God's wonderful kindness 7from our good friend Epaphras. He works together with us for Christ and is a faithful worker for you.#1.7 you: Some manuscripts have “us”.#Col 4.12; Phm 23. 8He is also the one who told us about the love that God's Spirit has given you.
The person and work of Christ
9We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. 10Then you will live a life that honours the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better. 11His glorious power will make you patient and strong enough to endure anything, and you will be truly happy.
12I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you#1.12 you: Some manuscripts have “us”. have part in what he has promised his people in the kingdom of light. 13God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son, 14who forgives our sins and sets us free.#Eph 1.7.
15Christ is exactly like God,
who cannot be seen.
He is the firstborn Son,
superior to all creation.
16Everything was created by him,
everything in heaven
and on earth,
everything seen and unseen,
including all forces
and powers,
and all rulers
and authorities.
All things were created
by God's Son,
and everything was made
for him.
17God's Son was before all else,
and by him everything
is held together.
18He is the head of his body,#Eph 1.22,23.
which is the church.
He is the very beginning,
the first to be raised
from death,
so that he would be
above all others.
19God himself was pleased
to live fully in his Son.
20And God was pleased#Eph 2.16.
for him to make peace
by sacrificing his blood
on the cross,
so that all beings in heaven
and on earth
would be brought back to God.
21You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. 22But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent. 23But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. It was preached to everyone on earth, and I myself have become a servant of this message.
Paul's service to the church
24I am glad that I can suffer for you. I am pleased also that in my own body I can continue#1.24 continue: Or “complete”. the suffering of Christ for his body, the church. 25God's plan was to make me a servant of his church and to send me to preach his complete message to you. 26For many ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God's people. 27God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God's glory.
28We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone, so that all Christ's followers will grow and become mature. 29That's why I work so hard and use the mighty power he gives me.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Colossians 1
1
Greeting
1From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother.
2To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and prayer for the Colossians
3We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4We’ve done this since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God’s people. 5You have this faith and love because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You previously heard about this hope through the true message, the good news, 6which has come to you. This message has been bearing fruit and growing among you since the day you heard and truly understood God’s grace, in the same way that it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world. 7You learned it from Epaphras, who is the fellow slave we love and Christ’s faithful minister for your sake. 8He informed us of your love in the Spirit.
9Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. 10We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; 11by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience; 12and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God’s holy people. 13He rescued us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14He set us free through the Son and forgave our sins.
Hymn about Christ’s work
15The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the one who is first over all creation,#1.15 Or firstborn of all creation
16Because all things were created by him:
both in the heavens and on the earth,
the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
Whether they are thrones or powers,
or rulers or authorities,
all things were created through him and for him.
17He existed before all things,
and all things are held together in him.
18He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning,
the one who is firstborn from among the dead#1.18 Or first over the dead
so that he might occupy the first place in everything.
19Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
20and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
whether things on earth or in the heavens.
He brought peace through the blood of his cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and you were enemies with him in your minds, which was shown by your evil actions. 22But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death, to present you before God as a people who are holy, faultless, and without blame. 23But you need to remain well established and rooted in faith and not shift away from the hope given in the good news that you heard. This message has been preached throughout all creation under heaven. And I, Paul, became a servant of this good news.
Paul’s service for the church
24Now I’m happy to be suffering for you. I’m completing what is missing from Christ’s sufferings with my own body. I’m doing this for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25I became a servant of the church by God’s commission, which was given to me for you, in order to complete God’s word. 26I’m completing it with a secret plan#1.26 Or mystery that has been hidden for ages and generations but which has now been revealed to his holy people. 27God wanted to make the glorious riches of this secret plan#1.27 Or mystery known among the Gentiles, which is Christ living in you, the hope of glory. 28This is what we preach as we warn and teach every person with all wisdom so that we might present each one mature in Christ. 29I work hard and struggle for this goal with his energy, which works in me powerfully.
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