God's New Bible

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

⮜ Back | Contents | Next ⮞

- Chapter 1 -

(Philippians 1:1–2; Philemon 1:1–3)
1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Timotheus the brother,
2
to the holy ones in Colossae, and to the faithful brothers in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving and Prayer

(1 Corinthians 1:4–9; Philippians 1:3–11)
3
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you,
4
having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that [is] to all the holy ones,
5
because of the hope that is laid up for you in the heavens, which you heard of beforehand by the word of the truth of the good news,
6
which has come to you, as also in all the world, and is bearing fruit, as also in you, from the day in which you heard, and knew the grace of God in truth,
7
as you also learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful servant of the Christ for you,
8
who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9
Because of this, we also, from the day in which we heard, do not cease praying for you, and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
10
to walk worthily of the LORD, pleasing in all, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God,
11
in all might being made mighty according to the power of His glory, to all endurance and long-suffering with joy.
12
Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us for the participation of the inheritance of the holy ones in the light,
13
who rescued us out of the authority of the darkness, and translated [us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14
in whom we have the redemption [[ through His blood]], the forgiveness of sins,

The Supremacy of the Son

(Hebrews 1:1–14)
15
who is the image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation,
16
because all things were created in Him, those in the heavens, and those on the earth, those visible, and those invisible, whether thrones, whether lordships, whether principalities, whether authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him,
17
and He is before all, and all things have consisted in Him.
18
And He is the head of the body—the Assembly—who is a beginning, a firstborn out of the dead, that He might become first in all [things] Himself,
19
because all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Him,
20
and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself—having made peace through the blood of His Cross—through Him, whether the things on the earth, whether the things in the heavens.
21
And you—once being alienated, and enemies in the mind, in the evil works, yet now He reconciled,
22
in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and unblemished, and unblameable before Himself,
23
if you also remain in the faith, being founded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the good news, which you heard, which was preached in all the creation that [is] under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a servant.

Paul’s Suffering for the Church

(2 Corinthians 11:16–33)
24
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up the things lacking of the tribulations of the Christ in my flesh for His body, which is the Assembly,
25
of which I became a servant according to the dispensation of God, that was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26
the secret that has been hid from the ages and from the generations, but now was revealed to His holy ones,
27
to whom God willed to make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this secret among the nations—which is Christ in you, the hope of the glory,
28
whom we proclaim, warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,
29
for which I also labor, striving according to His working that is working in me in power.
Copyright © 2020 Covenant Press and the CCC - licensed under CC BY-SA
(Philippians 1:1–2; Philemon 1:1–3)
1
Paul, an apostle of Christ (a) Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2
to the saints and faithful brothers(b) in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

(1 Corinthians 1:4–9; Philippians 1:3–11)
3
We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4
having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints,
5
because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News
6
which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth,
7
even as you learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your (c) behalf,
8
who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9
For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10
that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,
11
strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy,
12
giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,
13
who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love,
14
in whom we have our redemption,(d) the forgiveness of our sins.

The Supremacy of the Son

(Hebrews 1:1–14)
15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16
For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.
17
He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
18
He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19
For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him,
20
and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
21
You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,
22
yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,
23
if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

Paul’s Suffering for the Church

(2 Corinthians 11:16–33)
24
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly,
25
of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,
26
the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints,
27
to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28
We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;
29
for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

Footnotes

(a)1:1 “Christ” means “Anointed One”.
(b)1:2 The word for “brothers” here and where context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
(c)1:7 NU reads our
(d)1:14 TR adds “through his blood,”
⮜ Back | Contents | Next ⮞