| New International Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, | 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our brother: |
| 2To God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. | 2To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. |
| 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, | 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, |
| 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God's people-- | 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints |
| 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 | 5because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel |
| 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. | 6that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God's grace in the truth. |
| 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, | 7You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah on your behalf, |
| 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. | 8and he has told us about your love in the Spirit. |
| 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, | 9For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven't stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, |
| 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, | 10so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. |
| 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, | 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy |
| 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. | 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. |
| 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, | 13He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. |
| 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. | 14We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him. |
| 15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. | 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. |
| 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. | 16For everything was created by Him, 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. |
| 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. | 17He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. |
| 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. | 18He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. |
| 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, | 19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, |
| 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. | 20and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross-- whether things on earth or things in heaven. |
| 21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. | 21Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. |
| 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-- | 22But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him-- |
| 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. | 23if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it. |
| 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. | 24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for His body, that is, the church. |
| 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- | 25I have become its servant, according to God's administration that was given to me for you, to make God's message fully known, |
| 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. | 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. |
| 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. | 27God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| 28He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. | 28We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. |
| 29To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. | 29I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me. |
| 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. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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