Colossians 1
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will,(A) and Timothy(B) our[a] brother:
2 To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.[b]
Thanksgiving
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth,(C) the gospel 6 that has come to you. It is bearing fruit(D) and growing all over the world,(E) just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God’s grace(F) in the truth.[c](G) 7 You learned this from Epaphras,(H) our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah(I) on your[d] behalf, 8 and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.(J)
Prayer for Spiritual Growth
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking(K) that you may be filled with the knowledge(L) of His will(M) in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,[e] 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work(N) and growing in the knowledge of God.(O) 11 May you be strengthened(P) with all power,(Q) according to His glorious(R) might, for all endurance and patience, with joy 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you[f] to share in the saints’[g] inheritance in the light.(S) 13 He has rescued(T) us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom(U) of the Son(V) He loves.(W) 14 We have redemption,[h] the forgiveness of sins, in Him.
The Centrality of Christ
15 He is the image of the invisible God,(X)
the firstborn over all creation.[i](Y)
16 For everything was created by Him,(Z)
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.(AA)
17 He is before all things,(AB)
and by Him all things(AC) hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning,(AD)
the firstborn from the dead,(AE)
so that He might come to have
first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have
all His fullness(AF) dwell in Him,(AG)
20 and through Him to reconcile
everything to Himself
by making peace(AH)
through the blood(AI) of His cross[j](AJ)—
whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body[k] through His death,(AK) to present you holy, faultless,(AL) and blameless before Him(AM)— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith(AN) and are not shifted away from the hope(AO) of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation(AP) under heaven,(AQ) and I, Paul,(AR) have become a servant of it.
Paul’s Ministry
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings(AS) for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body,(AT) that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ(AU) in you, the hope(AV) of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving(AW) with His strength that works powerfully in me.(AX)
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:1 Lit the
- Colossians 1:2 Other mss add and the Lord Jesus Christ
- Colossians 1:6 Or and truly recognized God’s grace
- Colossians 1:7 Other mss read our
- Colossians 1:9 Or all spiritual wisdom and understanding
- Colossians 1:12 Other mss read us
- Colossians 1:12 Or holy ones’
- Colossians 1:14 Other mss add through His blood
- Colossians 1:15 The One who is preeminent over all creation
- Colossians 1:20 Other mss add through Him
- Colossians 1:22 His body of flesh on the cross
Colossians 1
New International Reader's Version
1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. Our brother Timothy joins me in writing.
2 We are sending this letter to you, our brothers and sisters in Colossae. You belong to Christ. You are holy and faithful.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
Paul Prays and Gives Thanks
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4 We thank him because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus. We have also heard that you love all God’s people. 5 Your faith and love are based on the hope you have. What you hope for is stored up for you in heaven. You have already heard about it. You were told about it when the true message was given to you. I’m talking about the good news 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the good news is bearing fruit. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world. It has been doing that among you since the day you heard it. That is when you really understood God’s grace. 7 You learned the good news from Epaphras. He is dear to us. He serves Christ together with us. He faithfully works for Christ and for us among you. 8 He also told us about your love that comes from the Holy Spirit.
9 That’s why we have not stopped praying for you. We have been praying for you since the day we heard about you. We keep asking God to fill you with the knowledge of what he wants. We pray he will give you the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. 10 Then you will be able to lead a life that is worthy of the Lord. We pray that you will please him in every way. So we want you to bear fruit in every good thing you do. We pray that you will grow to know God better. 11 We want you to be very strong, in keeping with his glorious power. We want you to be patient. We pray that you will never give up. 12 We want you to give thanks with joy to the Father. He has made you fit to have what he will give to all his holy people. You will all receive a share in the kingdom of light. 13 He has saved us from the kingdom of darkness. He has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 Because of what the Son has done, we have been set free. Because of him, all our sins have been forgiven.
The Son of God Is Better Than Everything Else
15 The Son is the exact likeness of God, who can’t be seen. The Son is first, and he is over all creation. 16 All things were created in him. He created everything in heaven and on earth. He created everything that can be seen and everything that can’t be seen. He created kings, powers, rulers and authorities. All things have been created by him and for him. 17 Before anything was created, he was already there. He holds everything together. 18 And he is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning. He is the first to be raised from the dead. That happened so that he would be far above everything. 19 God was pleased to have his whole nature living in Christ. 20 God was pleased to bring all things back to himself. That’s because of what Christ has done. These things include everything on earth and in heaven. God made peace through Christ’s blood, by his death on the cross.
21 At one time you were separated from God. You were enemies in your minds because of your evil ways. 22 But because Christ died, God has brought you back to himself. Christ’s death has made you holy in God’s sight. So now you don’t have any flaw. You are free from blame. 23 But you must keep your faith steady and firm. You must not move away from the hope the good news holds out to you. This is the good news that you heard. It has been preached to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, now serve the good news.
Paul’s Work for the Church
24 I am happy because of what I am suffering for you. My suffering joins with and continues the sufferings of Christ. I suffer for his body, which is the church. 25 I serve the church. God appointed me to bring the complete word of God to you. 26 That word contains the mystery that has been hidden for many ages. But now it has been made known to the Lord’s people. 27 God has chosen to make known to them the glorious riches of that mystery. He has made it known among the Gentiles. And here is what it is. Christ is in you. He is your hope of glory.
28 Christ is the one we preach about. With all the wisdom we have, we warn and teach everyone. When we bring them to God, we want them to be like Christ. We want them to be grown up as people who belong to Christ. 29 That’s what I’m working for. I work hard with all the strength of Christ. His strength works powerfully in me.
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