| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, | 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our brother: |
| 2To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. | 2To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. |
| 3We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, | 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, |
| 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; | 4for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints |
| 5because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, | 5because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel |
| 6which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; | 6that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God's grace in the truth. |
| 7as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, | 7You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah on your behalf, |
| 8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. | 8and he has told us about your love in the Spirit. |
| 9For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; | 9For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven't stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, |
| 10that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; | 10so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. |
| 11strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; | 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy |
| 12giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. | 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. |
| 13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, | 13He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. |
| 14in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. | 14We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him. |
| 15He 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 by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. | 16For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. |
| 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. | 17He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. |
| 18And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. | 18He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. |
| 19For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, | 19For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, |
| 20and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. | 20and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross-- whether things on earth or things in heaven. |
| 21And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled | 21Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. |
| 22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— | 22But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him-- |
| 23if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. | 23if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it. |
| 24I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, | 24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for His body, that is, the church. |
| 25of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, | 25I have become its servant, according to God's administration that was given to me for you, to make God's message fully known, |
| 26the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. | 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. |
| 27To them God willed 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. | 27God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| 28Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. | 28We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. |
| 29To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. | 29I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me. |
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