Chapter 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about before in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, just as it has in you from the first day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bondservant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf, 8who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason also, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 11strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, for the attainment of all patience and forbearance, 12joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption – the forgiveness of sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16for in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. 17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church – He who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself may become first in all things. 19For God was well pleased for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross – through Him, whether things on earth or things in the heavens.
21And you, who were formerly alienated and hostile in mind through evil deeds, 22He has now reconciled in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him, holy and blameless and above reproach, 23if indeed you continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast, not being moved away from the hope of the gospel that you heard, that gospel which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
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, 25of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to fully proclaim the word of God, 26the mystery which has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints, 27to whom God desired to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we might present every man mature in Christ. 29To this end also I labor, striving under His power which mightily works within me.
Chapter 2
1For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2that
... (it looks like this is where I stopped working on the translation 😂)
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