| 1:1 | From Paul,* an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, |
| 1:2 | to the saints, the faithful* brothers and sisters* in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you* from God our Father!* |
| 1:3 | We always* give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, |
| 1:4 | since* we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. |
| 1:5 | Your faith and love have arisen* from the hope laid up* for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel* |
| 1:6 | that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel* is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing* among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. |
| 1:7 | You learned the gospel* from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave* – a* faithful minister of Christ on our* behalf – |
| 1:8 | who also told us of your love in the Spirit. |
| 1:9 | For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you,* have not ceased praying for you and asking God* to fill* you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, |
| 1:10 | so that you may live* worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects* – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, |
| 1:11 | being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of* all patience and steadfastness, joyfully |
| 1:12 | giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share* in the saints’* inheritance in the light. |
| 1:13 | He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves,* |
| 1:14 | in whom we have redemption,* the forgiveness of sins. |
| 1:15 | *He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn* over all creation,* |
| 1:16 | for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions,* whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him. |
| 1:17 | He himself is before all things and all things are held together* in him. |
| 1:18 | He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn* from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.* |
| 1:19 | For God* was pleased to have all his* fullness dwell* in the Son* |
| 1:20 | and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him,* whether things on earth or things in heaven. |
| 1:21 | And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your* minds* as expressed through* your evil deeds, |
| 1:22 | but now he has reconciled you* by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him – |
| 1:23 | if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm,* without shifting* from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant. |
| 1:24 | Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. |
| 1:25 | I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship* from God – given to me for you – in order to complete* the word of God, |
| 1:26 | that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. |
| 1:27 | God wanted to make known to them the glorious* riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| 1:28 | We proclaim him by instructing* and teaching* all people* with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature* in Christ. |
| 1:29 | Toward this goal* I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully* works in me. |
Kolose 1 - NET Bible [draft]
