Colossians 1
King James Version
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Colossesi 1
Conferenza Episcopale Italiana
PREAMBOLO
Indirizzo
1 Paolo, apostolo di Cristo Gesù per volontà di Dio, e il fratello Timòteo, 2 ai santi e fedeli fratelli in Cristo dimoranti in Colossi grazia a voi e pace da Dio, Padre nostro!
Ringraziamento e preghiera
3 Noi rendiamo continuamente grazie a Dio, Padre del Signore nostro Gesù Cristo, nelle nostre preghiere per voi, 4 per le notizie ricevute della vostra fede in Cristo Gesù, e della carità che avete verso tutti i santi, 5 in vista della speranza che vi attende nei cieli. Di questa speranza voi avete gia udito l'annunzio dalla parola di verità del vangelo 6 che è giunto a voi, come pure in tutto il mondo fruttifica e si sviluppa; così anche fra voi dal giorno in cui avete ascoltato e conosciuto la grazia di Dio nella verità, 7 che avete appresa da Epafra, nostro caro compagno nel ministero; egli ci supplisce come un fedele ministro di Cristo, 8 e ci ha pure manifestato il vostro amore nello Spirito.
9 Perciò anche noi, da quando abbiamo saputo questo, non cessiamo di pregare per voi, e di chiedere che abbiate una conoscenza piena della sua volontà con ogni sapienza e intelligenza spirituale, 10 perché possiate comportarvi in maniera degna del Signore, per piacergli in tutto, portando frutto in ogni opera buona e crescendo nella conoscenza di Dio; 11 rafforzandovi con ogni energia secondo la potenza della sua gloria, per poter essere forti e pazienti in tutto; 12 ringraziando con gioia il Padre che ci ha messi in grado di partecipare alla sorte dei santi nella luce.
13 E' lui infatti che ci ha liberati dal potere delle tenebre e ci ha trasferiti nel regno del suo Figlio diletto, 14 per opera del quale abbiamo la redenzione, la remissione dei peccati.
I. PARTE DOGMATICA
Primato del Cristo
15 Egli è immagine del Dio invisibile, generato prima di ogni creatura; 16 poiché per mezzo di lui sono state create tutte le cose, quelle nei cieli e quelle sulla terra, quelle visibili e quelle invisibili: Troni, Dominazioni, Principati e Potestà. Tutte le cose sono state create per mezzo di lui e in vista di lui. 17 Egli è prima di tutte le cose e tutte sussistono in lui. 18 Egli è anche il capo del corpo, cioè della Chiesa; il principio, il primogenito di coloro che risuscitano dai morti, per ottenere il primato su tutte le cose. 19 Perché piacque a Dio di fare abitare in lui ogni pienezza 20 e per mezzo di lui riconciliare a sé tutte le cose, rappacificando con il sangue della sua croce, cioè per mezzo di lui, le cose che stanno sulla terra e quelle nei cieli.
Partecipazione dei Colossesi alla salvezza
21 E anche voi, che un tempo eravate stranieri e nemici con la mente intenta alle opere cattive che facevate, 22 ora egli vi ha riconciliati per mezzo della morte del suo corpo di carne, per presentarvi santi, immacolati e irreprensibili al suo cospetto: 23 purché restiate fondati e fermi nella fede e non vi lasciate allontanare dalla speranza promessa nel vangelo che avete ascoltato, il quale è stato annunziato ad ogni creatura sotto il cielo e di cui io, Paolo, sono diventato ministro.
Fatiche di Paolo al servizio dei pagani
24 Perciò sono lieto delle sofferenze che sopporto per voi e completo nella mia carne quello che manca ai patimenti di Cristo, a favore del suo corpo che è la Chiesa. 25 Di essa sono diventato ministro, secondo la missione affidatami da Dio presso di voi di realizzare la sua parola, 26 cioè il mistero nascosto da secoli e da generazioni, ma ora manifestato ai suoi santi, 27 ai quali Dio volle far conoscere la gloriosa ricchezza di questo mistero in mezzo ai pagani, cioè Cristo in voi, speranza della gloria. 28 E' lui infatti che noi annunziamo, ammonendo e istruendo ogni uomo con ogni sapienza, per rendere ciascuno perfetto in Cristo. 29 Per questo mi affatico e lotto, con la forza che viene da lui e che agisce in me con potenza.
Colossians 1
New Catholic Bible
Introduction
Chapter 1
Address. 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 to the saints[a] and faithful brethren in Christ in Colossae. May God our Father grant you grace and peace.
A Community Pervaded by the Gospel.[b] 3 In all our prayers for you we always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope that is stored up for you in heaven. You had learned of this hope through the word of truth, the gospel,[c] 6 that has come down to you.
Just as it is bearing fruit and growing throughout the entire world, so it has been bearing fruit among you, ever since the day when you heard it and came to understand the grace of God in truth. 7 You learned this from Epaphras,[d] our beloved fellow servant and a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf. 8 He was also the one who made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9 That is why, ever since the day we first heard about it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we ask this so that you may live in a manner worthy of the Lord and become fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and continuing to grow in the knowledge of God.
11 May you be fortified with the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be granted patience and endurance, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.[e] 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of Christ
In Christ, through Him, and for Him[f]
15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
16 For in him were created all things
in heaven and on earth,
whether visible or invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—
all things were created through him and for him.
17 He exists before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
18 He is the head of the body,
that is, the Church.
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that in every way
he should be supreme.
19 For in him
it pleased God
to make all fullness dwell,[g]
20 and through him
to reconcile all things for him,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through his blood of the cross.
21 Christ among the Gentiles.[h]You yourselves were once alienated and hostile in your intent because of your evil deeds. 22 But now, through Christ’s death in his body of flesh, God has reconciled you to himself so that you may stand holy, blameless, and irreproachable in his presence.
23 However, you must persevere in the faith, firmly grounded and steadfast in your belief, and never allowing yourselves to drift away from the hope of the gospel that you accepted and that has now been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, the gospel of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
24 Christ’s Suffering in His People. I find great joy at present in suffering for you, and in my own body I am completing the sufferings that still must be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church.[i] 25 I was made a minister of that Church, with the commission given to me by God to make fully known to you the word of God, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and from past generations but that now has been revealed to his saints.
27 To these God chose to make known how rich is the priceless glory that this mystery brings to the Gentiles—Christ in you, your hope of glory.[j] 28 It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing and instructing everyone in all wisdom so that we may present everyone to Christ in a state of perfection. 29 For this I labor and struggle with all his energy working within me mightily.
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:2 Saints: Christians are called saints because through Baptism they have been consecrated to God and are called to live accordingly.
- Colossians 1:3 The power of the Gospel to live and spread is extraordinary; it is God’s grace and action among human beings. In the vitality of a young Church, Paul recognizes this work of the Lord, and he prays that it will develop in all its richness. Thanksgiving and prayer succeed each other in this introduction and indicate the principal features of an authentic Christian life: to accept the truth of the Gospel; to grow in faith, love, and hope; and to know God more in order to be more faithful in the concrete.
Nonetheless, the initiative comes from the Lord. It is he who changes our life; it is he who frees us from the bondage of sin and leads us into a new world, the kingdom of Christ. Now he is extending to all the Gentiles the salvation formerly reserved for Israel—“the inheritance of the saints.” Such a text gives us the echo of what might have been the mystique of Baptism and the joy of the Christian in the early Church. - Colossians 1:5 This verse refers to the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, which also appear in Rom 5:2-5; 1 Cor 13:13; Gal 5:5f; 1 Thes 1:3; 5:8; Heb 10:22-24. For the special nuance mentioned here, that hope gives rise to faith and love, see Tit 1:2.
- Colossians 1:7 Epaphras: a Colossian and founder of the Church of Colossae, who is now with Paul.
- Colossians 1:12 Light: this term is used to symbolize glory (Isa 60:1-3; 1 Tim 6:16), life (Jn 1:4), holiness (Mt 5:14; 6:23; Acts 26:18; 1 Jn 1:5), love (Jas 1:17; 1 Jn 2:9f), and truth (Pss 36:9; 119:105, 130; 2 Cor 4:6). Thus, the character of light is found in God (1 Jn 1:5), Christ (Jn 8:12), and Christians (Eph 5:8).
- Colossians 1:15 This great hymn to Christ and his universal primacy was probably a baptismal hymn. It draws upon the most beautiful motifs of the Old Testament on Divine wisdom (see Prov 8:1-9, 12; Wis 7:21—8:12; Sir 24). In the perspective Paul adopts here, he contemplates Christ as the image of the invisible God and clearly asserts his Divine preexistence (see 2 Cor 4:4; Phil 2:6; Heb 1:3).
Christ is before all and above all; whether we consider the universe or the History of Salvation, he is both the reason for being and the explanation of everything in them. If we seek the origin of, the rationale for, or the end of creation, he is the one we must name. All the heavenly forces and hierarchies so prized in certain Jewish or Christian circles in Colossae—in a word, everything that claims to rule the universe—are subject to him as the Creator.
He alone is Lord of the world. He alone is the power giving life to the Church, that is, his Body. He alone is the Mediator who reconciles all beings with one another and with God. We experience a universe disordered by sin; it is re-created and transformed in him. Hence, for the Christian, history has a movement and a meaning: it is oriented toward Christ, directed by him, and consummated in him.
Paul wants to enunciate a hope that is infinitely more than merely human, a hope founded in faith (see Rom 8:19-22; 1 Cor 15:22-28; Phil 3:21): the risen Christ is the center in whom two worlds are united, the Divine and the created. - Colossians 1:19 All fullness (plêrôma): the fullness of deity (see Col 2:9) or, better, the universe full of the creative and redemptive presence of God. According to Paul, the risen Christ rules the whole of creation, what has been raised from sinfulness to salvation.
- Colossians 1:21 By dying on the cross, Christ has accomplished the reconciliation of all human beings. The Gospel changes their condition before God, provided that they accept it with faith. Paul rejoices in suffering to announce such a message, for he knows that the ordeal of a missionary is united with the Passion of Christ and contributes to the life and growth of the Church. He is captivated by the “mystery” of God. This term frequently means, depending on the context, Christ as prophesied, Christ who has come into this world, Christ continuing his work in the Church, Christ in his triumphal return.
Here, in this grand perspective of unity, Paul focuses his attention on the present aspect of the mystery. Today, Jews and Gentiles are admitted into the same inheritance, they are members of the same body, and they benefit from the same promise; today, even the multitudes of the Gentiles whom Israel regarded as excluded from the Covenant are called to the embrace of the Church. This is the wonderful mystery that the Apostle is charged to reveal. - Colossians 1:24 For the sake of his body, the Church: nothing is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, but believers who form a single reality with him (his body) prolong and complete his Paschal Mystery of Death and Resurrection by their trials and sufferings.
- Colossians 1:27 Christ dwells in us when we are regenerated (see Eph 3:17). We partake of the divine nature by feeding on him (Jn 6:56) and by having his word abide in us, and we grow in grace and bear fruit as we abide in him (Jn 15:5f).
Colossians 1
New King James Version
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints (B)and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse:
(C)Grace to you and peace from God our Father [a]and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their Faith in Christ
3 (D)We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 (E)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of (F)your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope (G)which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, (H)as it has also in all the world, and (I)is bringing forth [b]fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew (J)the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from (K)Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is (L)a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your (M)love in the Spirit.
Preeminence of Christ
9 (N)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask (O)that you may be filled with (P)the knowledge of His will (Q)in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 (R)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, (S)fully pleasing Him, (T)being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the (U)knowledge of God; 11 (V)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, (W)for all patience and longsuffering (X)with joy; 12 (Y)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of (Z)the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from (AA)the power of darkness (AB)and [c]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 (AC)in whom we have redemption [d]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is (AD)the image of the invisible God, (AE)the firstborn over all creation. 16 For (AF)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or (AG)dominions or [e]principalities or [f]powers. All things were created (AH)through Him and for Him. 17 (AI)And He is before all things, and in Him (AJ)all things consist. 18 And (AK)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, (AL)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Reconciled in Christ
19 For it pleased the Father that (AM)in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and (AN)by Him to reconcile (AO)all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, (AP)having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, (AQ)who once were alienated and enemies in your mind (AR)by wicked works, yet now He has (AS)reconciled 22 (AT)in the body of His flesh through death, (AU)to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue (AV)in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are (AW)not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, (AX)which was preached to every creature under heaven, (AY)of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Sacrificial Service for Christ
24 (AZ)I now rejoice in my sufferings (BA)for you, and fill up in my flesh (BB)what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for (BC)the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to (BD)the [g]stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 (BE)the [h]mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, (BF)but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 (BG)To them God willed to make known what are (BH)the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: [i]which is (BI)Christ in you, (BJ)the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, (BK)warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, (BL)that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me (BM)mightily.
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:2 NU omits and the Lord Jesus Christ
- Colossians 1:6 NU, M add and growing
- Colossians 1:13 transferred
- Colossians 1:14 NU, M omit through His blood
- Colossians 1:16 rulers
- Colossians 1:16 authorities
- Colossians 1:25 dispensation or administration
- Colossians 1:26 secret or hidden truth
- Colossians 1:27 M who
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
