| Holman Christian Standard Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our brother: | 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, |
| 2To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. | 2To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: 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, |
| 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints | 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, |
| 5because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel | 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, |
| 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. | 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, |
| 7You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah on your behalf, | 7just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf |
| 8and he has told us about your love in the Spirit. | 8and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. |
| 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, | 9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, |
| 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. | 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; |
| 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy | 11being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; |
| 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. | 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. |
| 13He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. | 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, |
| 14We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him. | 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. |
| 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. | 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. |
| 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. | 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. |
| 17He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. | 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. |
| 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. | 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. |
| 19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, | 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, |
| 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. | 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. |
| 21Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. | 21And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, |
| 22But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him-- | 22he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, |
| 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. | 23if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. |
| 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. | 24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, |
| 25I have become its servant, according to God's administration that was given to me for you, to make God's message fully known, | 25of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, |
| 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. | 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. |
| 27God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. | 27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| 28We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. | 28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. |
| 29I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me. | 29For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. |
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