A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Colossians 1
Colossians 1 is the opening chapter of the fifty-first book of the Bible. The 29-verse chapter opens Paul's letter with a greeting, a thanksgiving, a famous hymn about the supremacy of Christ, and a description of Paul's ministry.
The chapter opens with Paul's greeting, written alongside Timothy. He addresses the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae, a small city Paul had not personally visited. He thanks God for their faith and love, which he has heard about from Epaphras, a coworker who founded the church there.
Paul then prays for the Colossians. He asks God to fill them with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so they may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.
The chapter then rises into one of the most concentrated passages in the New Testament about who Jesus is. The passage, often called the Christ hymn, runs from verse 15 through verse 20. Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. By him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, thrones, powers, rulers, authorities. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things, making peace by the blood of the cross.
The chapter then describes how this reconciliation applies to the Colossians, who were once alienated and enemies in their minds. The chapter closes with Paul describing his own role: a servant of the gospel, suffering for the church, commissioned to present the word of God in its fullness, the mystery hidden for ages but now revealed.
Verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
Verse 2. To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
Verse 3. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
Verse 4. because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—
Verse 5. the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel
Verse 6. that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.
Verse 7. You learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
Verse 8. and who also informed us of your love in the Spirit.
Verse 9. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Verse 10. so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
Verse 11. being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully
Verse 12. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Verse 13. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Verse 14. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Verse 15. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Verse 16. For in Him all things were created, things 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.
Verse 17. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Verse 18. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
Verse 19. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
Verse 20. and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
Verse 21. Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
Verse 22. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—
Verse 23. if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Verse 24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.
Verse 25. I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,
Verse 26. the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.
Verse 27. To 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.
Verse 28. We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
Verse 29. To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
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