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Colossians 1

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy my brother, ²To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are in Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

³We thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, constantly praying for you, ⁴because we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints. ⁵This is because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which you heard about in the genuine word of the good news, ⁶which is present among you, just as it is in all the world bearing fruit and growing as it is also among you, starting from the day you heard it and came to truly know the grace of God. ⁷You have it just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow-laborer, who is also a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf. ⁸He has also made clear to us your love in the Spirit.

⁹Because of this we also have not stopped praying and petitioning God for you, from the day we heard, that you might fully know God's will in wisdom and spiritual understanding, ¹⁰so that you can live in a way that is worthy of the Lord in all favor, bearing fruit and growing in every good work and in the knowledge of God, ¹¹doing so with full strength, empowered accoring to the power of his, in all endurance and patience, with joy ¹²giving thanks to the Father who has made us able to share in the portion of the inheritance given to the saints in light. ¹³He is the one who redeemed us from the authority of darkness and made us stand instead in the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have deliverance, forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵He is the image of God, who is invisible, the first-produced of all creation. ¹⁶In him everything was created in heaven and on the earth, both the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers, or authorities. It was by him and for him that they were created. ¹⁷And he existed before all things, and everything is held together in him. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is its pioneer, the firstborn from the dead, so he might be in first place in everything. ¹⁹All the fullness of God chose to dwell in him. ²⁰Through him, God chose to reconcile everything to himself, making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. This reconciliation comes through him whether it relates to things on earth or to things in heaven.

²¹Now you were once alienated and enemies both mentally and in your evil deeds, ²²but now you are reconciled in the fleshly body of Jesus, so he can present you to God holy and blameless and free of accusation. ²³This will happen if you remain in the faith, firmly founded and immovable from the hope of the good news that you heard, which has been preached to every creature that is under heaven, of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I completely fill the lack in the sufferings of Christ in my flesh on behalf of his body, which is the church. ²⁵It is for the church that I became a servant according to God's plan, which was given to me so that I could fulfill for you the word of God, ²⁶the mystery that has been hidden from ages and generations past, but now has been revealed to God's saints.

²⁷God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this mystery among the gentiles: Christ in you, the hope of glory! ²⁸It is Christ we proclaim, instructing and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we can present every person as perfect in Christ. ²⁹For this purpose I toil agonizingly according to his strength which has been powerfully given to me.

Average revision: 3 (Draft # 1 by individual translator)