⁸ But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham My friend,^(A)

⁹ You whom I [the Lord] have taken from the ends of the earth and have called from the corners of it, and said to you, You are My servant—I have chosen you and not cast you off [even though you are exiled].

¹⁰ Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.^(B)

¹¹ Behold, all they who are enraged and inflamed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; they who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.

¹² You shall seek those who contend with you but shall not find them; they who war against you shall be as nothing, as nothing at all.

¹³ For I the Lord your God hold your right hand; I am the Lord, Who says to you, Fear not; I will help you!

¹⁴ Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵ Behold, I will make you to be a new, sharp, threshing instrument which has teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shall make the hills like chaff.

¹⁶ You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest or whirlwind shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord, you shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ The poor and needy are seeking water when there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

¹⁸ I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

¹⁹ I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the wild olive; I will set the cypress in the desert, the plane [tree] and the pine [tree] together,

²⁰ That men may see and know and consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

¹³ And they kept bringing young children to Him that He might touch them, and the disciples were reproving them [for it].

¹⁴ But when Jesus saw [it], He was indignant and ^[a]pained and said to them, Allow the children to come to Me—do not forbid or prevent or hinder them—for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive and accept and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child [does] positively shall not enter it at all.

¹⁶ And He took them [the children up ^[b]one by one] in His arms and [^[c]fervently invoked a] blessing, placing His hands upon them.

¹⁷ And as He was setting out on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, Teacher, [You are ^[d]essentially and perfectly ^[e]morally] good, what must I do to inherit eternal life [that is, ^[f]to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?

¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [^[g]essentially and perfectly ^[h]morally] good? There is no one [^[i]essentially and perfectly ^[j]morally] good—except God alone.

1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), by the will of God, and Timothy [our] brother,

² To the saints (the consecrated people of God) and ^[a]believing and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace (spiritual favor and blessing) to you and [heart] peace from God our Father.

³ We ^[b]continually give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), as we are praying for you,

⁴ For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [^[c]the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness] and of the love which you [have and show] for all the saints (God’s consecrated ones),

⁵ Because of the hope [of experiencing what is] laid up (^[d]reserved and waiting) for you in heaven. Of this [hope] you heard in the past in the message of the truth of the Gospel,

⁶ Which has come to you. Indeed, in the whole world [that Gospel] is bearing fruit and still is growing ^[e][by its own inherent power], even as it has done among yourselves ever since the day you first heard and came to know and understand the grace of God in truth. [You came to know the grace or undeserved favor of God in reality, deeply and clearly and thoroughly, becoming accurately and intimately acquainted with it.]

⁷ You so learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ in our stead and as our representative and ^[f]yours.

⁸ Also he has informed us of your love in the [Holy] Spirit.

⁹ For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [^[g]special] request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the ^[h]full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [^[i]in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things—

¹⁰ That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and ^[j]desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, ^[k]acquaintance, and recognition].

¹¹ [We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy,

¹² Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the ^[l]portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light.

¹³ [The Father] has delivered and ^[m]drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son ^[n]of His love,

¹⁴ In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.

¹⁵ [Now] He is the ^[o]exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.

¹⁶ For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him.

¹⁷ And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together).^(A)

¹⁸ He also is the Head of [His] body, the church; seeing He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead, so that He alone in everything and in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent].

¹⁹ For it has pleased [the Father] that all the divine fullness (the sum total of the divine perfection, powers, and attributes) should dwell in Him ^[p]permanently.

²⁰ And God purposed that through (^[q]by the service, the intervention of) Him [the Son] all things should be completely reconciled ^[r]back to Himself, whether on earth or in heaven, as through Him, [the Father] made peace by means of the blood of His cross.