Parallel Bible results for "Colossians 1"

Colossians 1

Common English Bible CEB

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our brother.

2 To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae.

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father.We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.

4 We've done this since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God's people.

5 You have this faith and love because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You previously heard about this hope through the true message, the good news,

6 which has come to you. This message has been bearing fruit and growing among you since the day you heard and truly understood God's grace, in the same way that it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world.

7 You learned it from Epaphras, who is the fellow slave we love and Christ's faithful minister for your sake.

8 He informed us of your love in the Spirit.

9 Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven't stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God's will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

10 We're praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God;

11 by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience;

12 and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God's holy people.

13 He rescued us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

14 He set us free through the Son and forgave our sins.

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the one who is first over all creation,

16 Because all things were created by him: both in the heavens and on the earth, the things that are visible and the things that are invisible. Whether they are thrones or powers, or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

17 He existed before all things, and all things are held together in him.

18 He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the one who is firstborn from among the dead so that he might occupy the first place in everything.

19 Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,

20 and he reconciled all things to himself through him— whether things on earth or in the heavens. He brought peace through the blood of his cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and you were enemies with him in your minds, which was shown by your evil actions.

22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death, to present you before God as a people who are holy, faultless, and without blame.

23 But you need to remain well established and rooted in faith and not shift away from the hope given in the good news that you heard. This message has been preached throughout all creation under heaven. And I, Paul, became a servant of this good news.

24 Now I'm happy to be suffering for you. I'm completing what is missing from Christ's sufferings with my own body. I'm doing this for the sake of his body, which is the church.

25 I became a servant of the church by God's commission, which was given to me for you, in order to complete God's word.

26 I'm completing it with a secret plan that has been hidden for ages and generations but which has now been revealed to his holy people.

27 God wanted to make the glorious riches of this secret plan known among the Gentiles, which is Christ living in you, the hope of glory.

28 This is what we preach as we warn and teach every person with all wisdom so that we might present each one mature in Christ.

29 I work hard and struggle for this goal with his energy, which works in me powerfully.

New Revised Standard NRS

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel

6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.

7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.

11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully

12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,

14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;

16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.

17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18 He is 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.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—

23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.

25 I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.

27 To 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.

28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.