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.

Revised Standard Version RSV

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

2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colos'sae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

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

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

6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--so among yourselves, from the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth,

7 as you learned it from Ep'aphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf

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

9 And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

10 to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,

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

13 He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to 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 first-born of all creation;

16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.

17 He 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 first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.

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

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

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

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him,

23 provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

25 of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest 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 Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ.

29 For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me.