| International Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1From: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. | 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, |
| 2To: The holy and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with the Messiah. May grace and peace from God our Father be yours! | 2To God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. |
| 3We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, praying always for you, | 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, |
| 4because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints, | 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God's people-- |
| 5based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel | 5the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel |
| 6that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. | 6that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world--just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace. |
| 7You learned about this gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiah on your behalf. | 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, |
| 8He has told us about your love in the Spirit. | 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. |
| 9For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God's will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, | 9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, |
| 10so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. | 10so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, |
| 11You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy | 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, |
| 12and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. | 12and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. |
| 13God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, | 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, |
| 14through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. | 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. |
| 15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. | 15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. |
| 16For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. | 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. |
| 17He himself existed before anything else did, and he holds all things together. | 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. |
| 18He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything. | 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. |
| 19For God was pleased to have all of his divine essence inhabit him. | 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, |
| 20Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross. | 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. |
| 21You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil, | 21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. |
| 22he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him. | 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- |
| 23However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. | 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. |
| 24Now I am rejoicing while suffering for you as I complete in my flesh whatever remains of the Messiah's sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church. | 24Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. |
| 25I became its servant as God commissioned me to work for you, so that I may complete my ministry of the word of God. | 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- |
| 26This secret was hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints, | 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. |
| 27to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles—which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope. | 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| 28It is he whom we proclaim as we admonish and wisely teach everyone, so that we may present everyone mature in the Messiah. | 28He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. |
| 29I work hard and struggle to do this, using the energy that he powerfully provides in me. | 29To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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