Qolasim (Colossians) 1
1
1Sha’ul, an emissary of יהושע Messiah by the desire of Elohim, and Timotiyos our brother,
2to the set-apart ones in Colosse, and true brothers in Messiah: Favour to you and peace from Elohim our Father and the Master יהושע Messiah.
3We give thanks to the Elohim and Father of our Master יהושע Messiah, praying always for you,
4having heard of your belief in Messiah יהושע and of your love for all the set-apart ones,
5because of the expectation that is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News,
6which has come to you, as also in all the world it is bearing fruit and growing, as also among you, since the day you heard and knew the favour of Elohim in truth,
7as you also learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a true servant of Messiah on your behalf,
8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9That is also why we, from the day we heard, have not ceased praying for you, and asking that you be filled with the knowledge of His desire in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
10to walk worthily of the Master, pleasing all, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of Elohim,
11being empowered with all power, according to the might of His esteem, for all endurance and patience with joy,
12giving thanks to the Father who has made us fit to share in the inheritance of the set-apart ones in the light,
13who has delivered us from the authority of darkness#See Luke 11:35; John 8:12; John 12:46-50; Acts 26:18; Eph. 5:8 and transferred us into the reign of the Son of His love,
14in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
15who is the likeness of the invisible Elohim, the first-born of all creation.#See Heb. 1:6; Rev. 3:14
16Because in Him were created all that are in the heavens and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or rulerships or principalities or authorities – all have been created through Him and for Him.#See John 1:3
17And He is before all, and in Him all hold together.
18And He is the Head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that He might become the One who is first in all.
19Because in Him all the completeness was well pleased to dwell,
20and through Him to completely restore to favour all unto Himself, whether on earth or in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of His stake.
21And you, who once were estranged and enemies in the mind by wicked works, but now He has completely restored to favour
22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you set-apart, and blameless, and unreprovable before Him,
23if indeed you continue in the belief, founded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the expectation of the Good News which you heard, which was proclaimed to every creature under the heaven, of which I, Sha’ul, became a servant,
24who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in Messiah’s afflictions, for the sake of His Body, which is the assembly,
25of which I became a servant according to the administration of Elohim which was given to me for you, to fill the word of Elohim,
26the secret which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His set-apart ones,
27to whom Elohim desired to make known what are the riches of the esteem of this secret among the nations: which is Messiah in you, the expectancy of esteem,
28whom we announce, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, in order to present every man perfect in Messiah יהושע,
29for which I also labour, striving according to the working of Him who works in me in power.
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Qolasim (Colossians) 1: TS2009
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Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.
Colossians 1
1
1-2I, Paul, have been sent on special assignment by Christ as part of God’s master plan. Together with my friend Timothy, I greet the Christians and stalwart followers of Christ who live in Colosse. May everything good from God our Father be yours!
Working in His Orchard
3-5a Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can’t quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus, and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.
5b-8 The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn’t diminish or weaken over time. It’s the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you’ve been hungry for more. It’s as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He’s the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.
9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.
Christ Holds It All Together
15-18a We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
18b-20 He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
21-23You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.
* * *
24-25I want you to know how glad I am that it’s me sitting here in this jail and not you. There’s a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church’s part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God’s way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth.
26-29This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.