Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, a brother:
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 Jesus who are at Colossa.
2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.
3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 Hearing your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have towards all the saints.
4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
5 For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard in the word of the truth of the gospel,
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 Which is come unto you, as also it is in the whole world and bringeth forth fruit and groweth, even as it doth in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.
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 As you learned of Epaphras, our most beloved fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ Jesus;
7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8 Who also hath manifested your love in the spirit.
8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9 Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding:
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 That you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God:
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 Strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory, in all patience and longsuffering with joy,
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 God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,
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 through his blood, the remission of sins:
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
16 For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him.
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 And he is before all: and by him all things consist.
17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy:
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 Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell:
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven.
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, whereas you were some time alienated and enemies in mind in evil works:
21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
22 Yet now he hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unspotted and blameless before him:
22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—
23 If so ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, which is preached in all the creation that is under heaven: whereof I Paul am made a minister.
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 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church:
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 Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given me towards you, that I may fulfil the word of God:
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 which hath been hidden from ages and generations, but now is manifested to his saints,
26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.
27 To whom God would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ, in you the hope of glory.
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 Whom we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
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 Wherein also I labour, striving according to his working which he worketh in me in power.
29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.