Colossians 1
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of Christ Jesus (B)by the will of God, and Timothy (C)our brother,
2 To the (D)saints and faithful brothers[a] in Christ at Colossae:
(E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 (F)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of (G)your faith in Christ Jesus and of (H)the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of (I)the hope (J)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in (K)the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed (L)in the whole world it is (M)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you (N)heard it and understood (O)the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from (P)Epaphras our beloved (Q)fellow servant.[b] He is (R)a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf 8 and has made known to us your (S)love in the Spirit.
9 And so, (T)from the day we heard, (U)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that (V)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all (W)spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as (X)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, (Y)fully pleasing to him: (Z)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 (AA)being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for (AB)all endurance and patience (AC)with joy; 12 (AD)giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e] to share in (AE)the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He (AF)has delivered us from (AG)the domain of darkness and transferred us to (AH)the kingdom of (AI)his beloved Son, 14 (AJ)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Preeminence of Christ
15 (AK)He is the image of (AL)the invisible God, (AM)the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by[f] him all things were created, (AN)in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether (AO)thrones or (AP)dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created (AQ)through him and for him. 17 And (AR)he is before all things, and in him all things (AS)hold together. 18 And (AT)he is the head of the body, the church. He is (AU)the beginning, (AV)the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For (AW)in him all the (AX)fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and (AY)through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, (AZ)making peace (BA)by the blood of his cross.
21 (BB)And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, (BC)doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled (BD)in his body of flesh by his death, (BE)in order to present you holy and blameless and (BF)above reproach before him, 23 (BG)if indeed you continue in the faith, (BH)stable and steadfast, not shifting from (BI)the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed (BJ)in all creation[g] under heaven, (BK)and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Paul's Ministry to the Church
24 Now (BL)I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh (BM)I am filling up (BN)what is lacking in Christ's afflictions (BO)for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 (BP)of which I became a minister according to (BQ)the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 (BR)the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 (BS)To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are (BT)the riches of the glory of (BU)this mystery, which is Christ in you, (BV)the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that (BW)we may present everyone (BX)mature in Christ. 29 For this (BY)I toil, (BZ)struggling (CA)with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
- Colossians 1:7 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word sundoulos, see Preface
- Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts our
- Colossians 1:12 Or patience, with joy giving thanks
- Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us
- Colossians 1:16 That is, by means of; or in
- Colossians 1:23 Or to every creature
Colossians 1
The Voice
1 Paul, an emissary[a] of Jesus the Anointed serving at God’s pleasure, along with our brother Timothy 2 to you, dear holy and faithful brothers and sisters in the family of the Anointed who live in Colossae. May grace and peace from God our Father [and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One][b] envelop you.
3 As always, we’ve been praying for you, thanking God, the Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, 4 ever since we heard of your faith in Jesus the Anointed and your love for His holy ones— 5 a faith and love that emerge from the hope you have heard about in the word of truth—the gospel—the very hope that awaits you in heaven. 6-7 The same gospel that was brought to you is growing and bearing fruit all over the world, just as it has been growing among you since the day you heard and took in the truth of God’s grace from our beloved fellow servant Epaphras. (He is a faithful minister of the Anointed on our[c] behalf.) 8 He was the one who told us how you demonstrate your love in the power of the Spirit. 9 Since the day we got this good news about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We ask:
This is a prayer for knowledge and insight that only can come from God.
Father, may they clearly know Your will and achieve the height and depth of spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 May their lives be a credit to You, Lord; and what’s more, may they continue to delight You by doing every good work and growing in the true knowledge that comes from being close to You. 11 Strengthen them with Your infinite power, according to Your glorious might, so that they will have everything they need to hold on and endure hardship patiently and joyfully. 12 Thank You, Father, as You have made us[d] eligible to receive our portion of the inheritance given to all those set apart by the light. 13 You have rescued us from dark powers and brought us safely into the kingdom of Your Son, whom You love 14 and in whom we are redeemed and forgiven of our sins [through His blood].[e]
15 He is the exact image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation, the eternal. 16 It was by Him that everything was created: the heavens, the earth, all things within and upon them, all things seen and unseen, thrones and dominions, spiritual powers and authorities. Every detail was crafted through His design, by His own hands, and for His purposes. 17 He has always been! It is His hand that holds everything together. 18 He is the head of this body, the church. He is the beginning, the first of those to be reborn from the dead, so that in every aspect, at every view, in everything—He is first. 19 God was pleased that all His fullness should forever dwell in the Son 20 who, as predetermined by God, bled peace into the world by His death on the cross as God’s means of reconciling to Himself the whole creation—all things in heaven and all things on earth.
As Paul gives thanks to God—a normal thing to do in a letter—he remembers a hymn he heard in the churches. The Colossian hymn (verses 15–20), as we call it, is all about Jesus. It celebrates His reign, first as the Creator and Sustainer of the cosmos and second as the head of the church and the One who reconciles every broken thing to God by what He accomplished on the cross. In this hymn, the story of redemption is a witness to God’s love. Paul wants the Colossians to understand who they are; but to do that, they must first know to whom they belong.
21 You were once at odds with God, wicked in your ways and evil in your minds; 22 but now He has reconciled you in His body—in His flesh through His death—so that He can present you to God holy, blameless, and totally free of imperfection 23 as long as you stay planted in the faith. So don’t venture away from what you have heard and taken to heart: the living hope of the good news that has been announced to all creation under heaven and has captured me, Paul, as its servant.
24 Now I rejoice in what I’ve suffered on your behalf, but even more suffering is ahead for me as I take on and complete what remains of the Anointed’s suffering for the sake of His body, the church. 25 I am a servant appointed by God to preach the Word of God until it is known to you and all over—what I am talking about is nothing less than 26 the mystery of the ages! What was hidden for ages, generations and generations, is now being revealed to His holy ones. 27 He decided to make known to them His blessing to the nations; the glorious riches of this mystery is the indwelling of the Anointed in you! The very hope of glory.
28 We are preaching Him—spreading the Word to all with equal amounts of wise warning and instruction—so that, at the final judgment, we will be able to present everyone to the Creator fully mature because of what Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, has done. 29 This is why I continue to toil and struggle—because His amazing power and energy surge within me.
Colossians 1
Amplified Bible
Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments
1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the [a]saints and faithful [b]believers in Christ [who are] at Colossae: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father.
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] [c]love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); 5 because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it]. 7 You learned it from [our representative] Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf 8 and he also has told us of your love [well-grounded and nurtured] in the [Holy] Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about it, we have not stopped praying for you, asking [specifically] that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [with insight into His purposes], and in understanding [of spiritual things], 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts]; 11 [we pray that you may be] strengthened and invigorated with all power, according to His glorious might, to attain every kind of endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints (God’s people) in the Light.
The Incomparable Christ
13 For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins’ penalty].
15 He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation. 16 For [d]by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. 17 And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.](A) 18 He is also the head [the life-source and leader] of the body, the [e]church; and He is the beginning, [f]the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will occupy the first place [He will stand supreme and be preeminent] in everything.(B) 19 For it pleased the Father for all the fullness [of deity—the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son), 20 and through [the intervention of] the Son to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace [with believers] through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say,] whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him], participating in evil things, 22 yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His [g]physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 [and He will do this] if you continue in the faith, well-grounded and steadfast, and not shifting away from the [confident] hope [that is a result] of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed [h]in all creation under heaven, and of which [gospel] I, Paul, was made a minister.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf. And with my own body I [i]supplement whatever is lacking [on our part] of Christ’s afflictions, on behalf of His body, which is the church. 25 In this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship which God entrusted to me for your sake, so that I might make the word of God fully known [among you]— 26 that is, [j]the mystery which was hidden [from angels and mankind] for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints (God’s people). 27 God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in and among you, the hope and guarantee of [realizing the] glory. 28 We proclaim Him, warning and instructing everyone in all wisdom [that is, with comprehensive insight into the word and purposes of God], so that we may present every person complete in Christ [mature, fully trained, and perfect in Him—the Anointed]. 29 For this I labor [often to the point of exhaustion], striving with His power and energy, which so greatly works within me.
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:2 Every born-again believer (saint) has been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, made holy and set apart for God’s purpose.
- Colossians 1:2 Lit brethren.
- Colossians 1:4 The key to understanding this and other statements about love is to know that this love (the Greek word agape) is not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for another.
- Colossians 1:16 Or in.
- Colossians 1:18 This refers to the entire body of born-again believers (whether past, present, or future), not a local congregation.
- Colossians 1:18 Christ is the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body. Others who were raised had to die again.
- Colossians 1:22 Lit body of flesh.
- Colossians 1:23 Paul may be referring to the fact that the created world displays proof of the existence of an omnipotent, benevolent God (cf Rom 1:20), without whom there would be no possibility of salvation. Such a God is the foundation of the “good news.”
- Colossians 1:24 I.e. since the church is Christ’s body, figuratively speaking, whatever the church suffers can be considered additional sufferings by Christ Himself, and all such suffering was ordained and destined by God; what is left to suffer in God’s plan is what is “lacking of Christ’s afflictions.” Paul, as a member of the church, was destined to suffer through persecution etc., thereby taking his share of the church body’s divinely-ordained suffering.
- Colossians 1:26 I.e. that believing Gentiles would be united with believing Jews into one body of believers.
Colossians 1
New Living Translation
Greetings from Paul
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.[b] 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,[c] 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom[d] and forgave our sins.
Christ Is Supreme
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,[e]
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.[f]
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Paul’s Work for the Church
24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. 25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect[g] in their relationship to Christ. 29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
Footnotes
- 1:2 Greek faithful brothers.
- 1:7 Or he is ministering on your behalf; some manuscripts read he is ministering on our behalf.
- 1:11 Or all the patience and endurance you need with joy.
- 1:14 Some manuscripts add with his blood.
- 1:15 Or He is the firstborn of all creation.
- 1:18 Or the firstborn from the dead.
- 1:28 Or mature.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
