| New International 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 God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you 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, |
| 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God's people-- | 4since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. |
| 5the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of 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 |
| 6that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world--just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace. | 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. |
| 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, | 7You learned the gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow slave--a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf-- |
| 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. | 8who also told us of your love in the Spirit. |
| 9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, | 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 that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing 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 so that you may have great endurance and patience, | 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully |
| 12and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. | 12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. |
| 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, | 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. |
| 15The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. | 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, |
| 16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been 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. |
| 17He 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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. | 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 God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, | 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son |
| 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the 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. |
| 21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. | 21And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, |
| 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- | 22but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him-- |
| 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. | 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 what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which 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. |
| 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- | 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 that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. | 26that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. |
| 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches 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. |
| 28He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully 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. |
| 29To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. | 29Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me. |
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