| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, | 1From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, |
| 2To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. | 2to the saints, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you from God our Father! |
| 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, | 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 of the love that you have for all the saints, | 4since we heard about 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. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, | 5Your 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 |
| 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, | 6that 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. |
| 7just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf | 7You learned the gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave--a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf-- |
| 8and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. | 8who also told us of your love in the Spirit. |
| 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, | 9For 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, |
| 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; | 10so 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, |
| 11being 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 the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully |
| 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. | 12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. |
| 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, | 13He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, |
| 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. | 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. |
| 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. | 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, |
| 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. | 16for 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. |
| 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. | 17He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. |
| 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. | 18He 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. |
| 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, | 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son |
| 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. | 20and 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. |
| 21And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, | 21And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, |
| 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, | 22but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him-- |
| 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. | 23if 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. |
| 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, | 24Now 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. |
| 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, | 25I 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, |
| 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. | 26that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. |
| 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. | 27God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| 28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. | 28We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. |
| 29For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. | 29Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me. |
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