ISV - Colossians - 1

1:1  The Letter of Paul to the ColossiansGreetings from PaulFromThe Gk. lacks From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

1:2  to the holyOr to the saints and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with Christ.May grace and peace from God our FatherOther mss. read from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be yours!

1:3  Paul's Prayer for the ColossiansWe give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

1:4  because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints,

1:5  based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hopeLit. about it in the word of truth, the gospel

1:6  that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doingThe Gk. lacks it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth.

1:7  You learned about this gospelLit. Just as you learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on yourOther mss. read our behalf.

1:8  He has told us about your love in the Spirit.

1:9  Christ Is Above AllFor this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God'sLit. his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

1:10  so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to himLit. to all pleasing as you bear fruit in every good work and grow in the full knowledge of God.

1:11  You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy

1:12  and might thank the Father, who has enabled usOther mss. read you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

1:13  He has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves.

1:14  In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1:15  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

1:16  For byOr in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings,Lit. thrones lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.

1:17  He himself existed before all things, and byOr in him all things hold together.

1:18  He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything.

1:19  For GodLit. he was pleased to have all of his fullness live in him.

1:20  Through him he also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thus making peace through the blood of his cross.

1:21  You who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,Lit. in evil deeds

1:22  he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body so that he might present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.

1:23  However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.Or minister

1:24  Paul's Service in the ChurchNow I am rejoicing in my sufferings for you and completing in my flesh whatever remains of Christ's sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church.

1:25  I became its servantOr minister according to God's commission that was given to me for you, so that I might fulfill the ministry ofThe Gk. lacks the ministry of the word of God.

1:26  This secret was hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints,

1:27  to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the Gentiles—which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

1:28  It is he whom we proclaim as we admonish everyone and teach everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone matureOr complete in Christ.

1:29  I work hard and struggle to do this according to his energy that powerfully works in me.