Colossians 1
Evangelical Heritage Version
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the holy and faithful brothers[a] in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.[b]
Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope that is stored up for you in heaven. You have already heard about this in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that is present with you now. The gospel is bearing fruit and growing in the entire world, just as it also has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. 7 You learned this from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf. 8 He is the one who told us about your love in the Spirit.[d]
9 For this reason, from the day we heard about your love, we also have not stopped praying for you. We keep asking that you would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you might live in a way that is worthy of the Lord. Our goal is that you please him by bearing fruit in every kind of good work and by growing in the knowledge of God, 11 as you are being strengthened with all power because of his glorious might working in you. Then you will have complete endurance and patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who qualified us[e] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
What the Father Did Through Christ
13 The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption,[f] the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself (whether things on earth or in heaven) by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Reconciled Through Christ’s Death
21 At one time, you were alienated from God and hostile in your thinking as expressed through your evil deeds. 22 But now Christ reconciled you in his body of flesh through death, in order to present you holy, blameless, and faultless before him— 23 if you continue steadfast and firm in faith, without being moved away from the hope of the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a minister.
Paul’s Service in Preaching the Gospel
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church. 25 I became a minister of the church for your benefit when God gave me the task of fully proclaiming the word of God, 26 namely, the mystery that was hidden for past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known to them what is the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles—this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 We proclaim him as we admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom, so that we might present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 This is the goal I am laboring to reach, striving with his strength, which is powerfully at work in me.
Footnotes
- Colossians 1:2 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.
- Colossians 1:2 Some witnesses to the text add and our Lord Jesus Christ. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)
- Colossians 1:7 Some witnesses to the text read our.
- Colossians 1:8 Or about the love the Spirit worked in you
- Colossians 1:12 Some witnesses to the text read you.
- Colossians 1:14 A few witnesses to the text add through his blood.
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.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.