ISV - Colossians

Chapter 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.

Chapter 2

2:1  For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face.Lit. my face in the flesh

2:2  Because they are united in love, I prayThe Gk. lacks I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of Christ, who is the secret of God.

2:3  In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

2:4  I say this so that no one will mislead you with nice-sounding rhetoric.

2:5  For although I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

2:6  Fullness of LifeSo then, just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live in him.

2:7  For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you overflow with thanksgiving.

2:8  See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world,Or the elemental spirits of the universe and not according to Christ.

2:9  For in him the whole fullness of God lives in bodily form.

2:10  And you have been brought to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.

2:11  In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without humanThe Gk. lacks human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature in the circumcision performed by Christ.

2:12  When you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

2:13  Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, GodLit. he made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses,

2:14  having erased the charges that were brought against us with their decrees that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.

2:15  And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.Lit. in it

2:16  Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a new moon, or a Sabbath day.

2:17  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the realityOr substance belongs to Christ.

2:18  Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by boasting about what he has seen.Other mss. read what he has not seen Such a person is puffed up without cause by his carnal mind.

2:19  He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that comes from God.

2:20  The New Life in ChristIf you have died with Christ to the basic principles of the world,Or the elemental spirits of the universe why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world?

2:21  “Don't handle this! Don't taste or touch that!”

2:22  All of these things will be destroyed through use because they are based on human commands and teachings.

2:23  These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.

Chapter 3

3:1  Keep Focusing on ChristTherefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep focusing on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

3:2  Keep your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.

3:3  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

3:4  When Christ yourOther mss. read our life is revealed, then you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.

3:5  So put to death your worldly impulses:Lit. the parts that are on the earth sexual sin, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).

3:6  It is because of these things that the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.Lit. on the sons of disobedience

3:7  You used to behave like them when you were living among them.

3:8  But now you must also get rid of anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene language from your mouth, and all such sins.

3:9  Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old man with its practices

3:10  and have clothed yourselves with the new man, which is being renewed into full knowledge according to the image of the one who created it.

3:11  Where this happens, there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,I.e. uncivilized person slave, or free person. Instead, Christ is all and in all.

3:12  Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness,Or gentleness and patience.

3:13  Put up with one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the LordOther mss. read Christ has forgiven you, you also should forgive.Lit. so you also

3:14  Above all, clothe yourselves withThe Gk. lacks clothe yourselves with love, which ties everything together in unity.

3:15  Let the peace of Christ also rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful.

3:16  Let the word of ChristOther mss. read of God; still other mss. read of the Lord dwell in you with all richness and wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing to God with thankfulness in your hearts.

3:17  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

3:18  Family DutiesWives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

3:19  Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh withOr bitter toward them.

3:20  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

3:21  Fathers, do not make your children resentful, lest they become discouraged.

3:22  Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched in order to please them, but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord.

3:23  Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing itThe Gk. lacks though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people.

3:24  You know that it is from the Lord that you will receive the inheritance as a reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you are serving!

3:25  For the person who does what is wrong will be paid back for what he has done, and there is no favoritism.

Chapter 4

4:1  Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

4:2  Closing ExhortationsDevote yourselves to prayer. Be alert when you prayLit. Be alert in it with thanksgiving.

4:3  At the same time also pray for us—that God would open before us a door for the word so that we may tell the secret about Christ, for which I have been imprisoned.

4:4  May I reveal it as clearly as I should!Lit. as I should speak

4:5  Behave wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of your time.

4:6  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.

4:7  Greetings from Paul and His Fellow WorkersTychicus will tell you everything that has happened to me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord.

4:8  I am sending him to you for this very reason, so that you may know how we are doing and that he may encourage your hearts.

4:9  He is coming with Onesimus, that faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.

4:10  Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about him. If he comes to you, welcome him.

4:11  Jesus, who is called Justus, also greets you. These are the only ones of the circumcision who are fellow workers for the kingdom of God. They have been an encouragement to me.

4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servantOr slave of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He is always wrestling in his prayers for you, so that you may stand matureOr complete and completely convinced of the entire will of God.

4:13  For I can testify on his behalf that he has a deep concern for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hieropolis.

4:14  Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.

4:15  Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, especially to Nympha and the church that is in her house.

4:16  When this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans. And be sure to read the one from Laodicea.

4:17  Tell Archippus, “See that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

4:18  Final GreetingThis greeting is by my own hand—“Paul.” Remember my imprisonment. May grace be with you! Amen.Other mss. lack Amen