Colossians 1
Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments
1 aPaul, ban apostle of Jesus Christ ▼▼ Lit through
,
dby the will of God, and eTimothy ▼▼ Lit the
our brother, 2To the ▼▼ Or holy ones
,
hsaints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: iGrace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 jWe give thanks to God, kthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 lsince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the mlove which you have ▼▼ Or toward
for oall the ▼▼ Or holy ones
saints; 5because of the qhope rlaid up for you in ▼▼ Lit the heavens
heaven, of which you previously theard in the word of truth, ▼▼ Or of the gospel
the gospel 6which has come to you, just as ▼▼ Or it is in the world
,
win all the world also it is constantly bearing xfruit and ▼▼ Or spreading abroad
increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you zheard of it and ▼▼ Or came really to know
understood the grace of God in truth; 7just as you learned it from abEpaphras, our acbeloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8and he also informed us of your adlove in the Spirit. 9For this reason also, aesince the day we heard of it, afwe have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ▼▼ Or real knowledge
,
ahknowledge of His will in all spiritual aiwisdom and understanding, 10so that you will ajwalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ▼▼ Lit unto all pleasing
,
alto please Him in all respects, ambearing fruit in every good work and ▼▼ Or growing by the knowledge
increasing in the ▼▼ Or real knowledge
knowledge of God; 11 apstrengthened with all power, according to ▼▼ Lit the might of His glory
His glorious might, ▼▼ Lit unto all
for the attaining of all steadfastness and ▼▼ Or patience with joy
patience; atjoyously 12giving thanks to authe Father, who has qualified us ▼▼ Lit unto the portion of
to share in awthe inheritance of the ▼▼ Or holy ones
saints in ayLight. The Incomparable Christ
13 ▼▼ Lit Who rescued
For He rescued us from the ▼▼ Lit authority
,
bbdomain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ▼▼ Lit the Son of His love
,
bdHis beloved Son, 14 bein whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 ▼▼ Lit Who is
He is the bgimage of the bhinvisible God, the bifirstborn of all creation. 16For ▼▼ Or in
,
bkby Him all things were created, bl both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether bmthrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— bnall things have been created through Him and for Him. 17He ▼▼ Or has existed prior to
,
bpis before all things, and in Him all things ▼▼ Or endure
hold together. 18He is also brhead of bsthe body, the church; and He is btthe beginning, buthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19For ▼▼ Or all the fullness was pleased to dwell
it was bwthe Father’s good pleasure for all bxthe ▼▼ I.e. fullness of deity
fullness to dwell in Him, 20and through Him to bzreconcile all things to Himself, having made capeace through cbthe blood of His cross; through Him, I say, ccwhether things on earth or things in ▼▼ Lit the heavens
heaven. 21And although you were ceformerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22yet He has now cfreconciled you in His fleshly cgbody through death, in order to chpresent you before Him ciholy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23if indeed you continue in ▼▼ Or in faith
the faith firmly ckestablished and steadfast, and not moved away from the clhope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed cmin all creation under heaven, cnand of which I, Paul, ▼▼ Lit became
was made a ▼▼ Or servant
,
cqminister. 24 crNow I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh csI ▼▼ Or representatively...fill up
do my share on behalf of cuHis body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking ▼▼ Lit of
in Christ’s afflictions. 25 cwOf this church I ▼▼ Lit became
was made a minister according to the cystewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might ▼▼ Lit make full the word of God
fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26that is, dathe mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ▼▼ Or holy ones
saints, 27to whom dcGod willed to make known what is ddthe riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is deChrist in you, the dfhope of glory. 28We proclaim Him, dgadmonishing every man and teaching every man ▼▼ Lit in
with all diwisdom, so that we may djpresent every man ▼▼ Or perfect
,
dlcomplete in Christ. 29For this purpose also I dmlabor, dnstriving doaccording to His ▼▼ Lit working
power, which ▼▼ Lit in power
mightily works within me.
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