Thanksgiving and Prayer

(A)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of (B)your faith in Christ Jesus and of (C)the love that you have for all the saints, because of (D)the hope (E)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in (F)the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed (G)in the whole world it is (H)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you (I)heard it and understood (J)the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from (K)Epaphras our beloved (L)fellow servant.[a] He is (M)a faithful minister of Christ on your[b] behalf and has made known to us your (N)love in the Spirit.

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Footnotes

  1. Colossians 1:7 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word sundoulos, see Preface
  2. Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts our

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 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.

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.

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.[a] He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:7 Or he is ministering on your behalf; some manuscripts read he is ministering on our behalf.