Parallel Bible results for "colossians 1"

Colossians 1

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the purpose of God, and Timothy our brother,

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

3 We give praise to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, making prayer for you at all times,

4 After hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have for all the saints,

5 Through the hope which is in store for you in heaven; knowledge of which was given to you before in the true word of the good news,

6 Which has come to you; and which in all the world is giving fruit and increase, as it has done in you from the day when it came to your ears and you had true knowledge of the grace of God;

7 As it was given to you by Epaphras, our well-loved helper, who is a true servant of Christ for us,

8 And who, himself, made clear to us your love in the Spirit.

9 For this reason, we, from the day when we had word of it, keep on in prayer for you, that you may be full of the knowledge of his purpose, with all wisdom and experience of the Spirit,

10 Living uprightly in the approval of the Lord, giving fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 Full of strength in the measure of the great power of his glory, so that you may undergo all troubles with joy;

12 Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage of the saints in light;

13 Who has made us free from the power of evil and given us a place in the kingdom of the Son of his love;

14 In whom we have our salvation, the forgiveness of sins:

15 Who is the image of the unseen God and existed before all living things;

16 For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by him and for him;

17 He is before all things, and in him all things have being.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.

19 For God in full measure was pleased to be in him;

20 Through him uniting all things with himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, uniting all things which are on earth or in heaven.

21 And you, who in the past were cut off and at war with God in your minds through evil works, he has now made one

22 In the body of his flesh through death, so that you might be holy and without sin and free from all evil before him:

23 If you keep yourselves safely based in the faith, not moved from the hope of the good news which came to you, and which was given to every living being under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

24 Now I have joy in my pain because of you, and in my flesh I undergo whatever is still needed to make the sorrows of Christ complete, for the salvation of his body, the church;

25 Of which I became a servant by the purpose of God which was given to me for you, to give effect to the word of God,

26 The secret which has been kept from all times and generations, but has now been made clear to his saints,

27 To whom God was pleased to give knowledge of the wealth of the glory of this secret among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

28 Whom we are preaching; guiding and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that every man may be complete in Christ;

29 And for this purpose I am working, using all my strength by the help of his power which is working in me strongly.

Good News Translation GNT

1 From Paul, who by God's will is an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy -

2 To God's people in Colossae, who are our faithful friends in union with Christ: May God our Father give you grace and peace.

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

4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God's people.

5 When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven.

6 The gospel keeps bringing blessings and is spreading throughout the world, just as it has among you ever since the day you first heard about the grace of God and came to know it as it really is.

7 You learned of God's grace from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is Christ's faithful worker on our behalf.

8 He has told us of the love that the Spirit has given you.

9 For this reason we have always prayed for you, ever since we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives.

10 Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God.

11 May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with patience. And with joy give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of light.

13 He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son,

14 by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.

15 Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things.

16 For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him.

17 Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.

18 He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things.

19 For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God.

20 Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

21 At one time you were far away from God and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought.

22 But now, by means of the physical death of his Son, God has made you his friends, in order to bring you, holy, pure, and faultless, into his presence.

23 You must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. It is of this gospel that I, Paul, became a servant - this gospel which has been preached to everybody in the world.

24 And now I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical sufferings I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ's sufferings on behalf of his body, the church.

25 And I have been made a servant of the church by God, who gave me this task to perform for your good. It is the task of fully proclaiming his message,

26 which is the secret he hid through all past ages from all human beings but has now revealed to his people.

27 God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.

28 So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature individual in union with Christ.

29 To get this done I toil and struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me.