Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy {Greek: the brother.}our brother,
{Or, to those that are at Colossae, holy and faithful brethren in Christ}to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ that are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have toward all the saints,
because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere; see marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel,
which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
even as ye learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on {Many ancient authorities read your.}our behalf,
who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
to walk worthily of the Lord {Or, unto all pleasing, in every good work, bearing fruit and increasing &c.}unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing {Or, by}in the knowledge of God;
{Greek: made powerful.}strengthened {Or, in}with all power, according to the might of his glory, unto all {Or, stedfastness}patience and longsuffering with joy;
giving thanks unto the Father, who made {Some ancient authorities read you.}us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;
in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:
who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;
and he is before all things, and in him all things {That is, hold together.}consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; {Or, that among all he might have &c.}that in all things he might have the preeminence.
{Or, For the whole fullness of God was pleased to dwell in him}For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell;
and through him to reconcile all things {Or, into him}unto {Or, him}himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,
yet now {Some ancient authorities read ye have been reconciled.}hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:
if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere; see marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister.
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 church;
whereof I was made a minister, according to the {Or, stewardship See 1 Corinthians 9:17}dispensation of God which was given me to you-ward, to fulfil the word of God,
even the mystery which hath been hid for {Or, from all the ages &c. Greek: from the ages and from the generations.}ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints,
to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;
whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me {Or, in power}mightily.
Querverweise zu Kolosser 1,13 Kol 1,13
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or {Hebrew: the captives of the just.}the lawful captives be delivered?
When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched not forth your hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be {Or, able, when once}able.
Yet I have set my kingUpon my holy hill of Zion.
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the {Or, nations (and elsewhere)}Gentiles.
But thus saith Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
Now is {Or, a judgement}the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.
I will tell of the decree:Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son;This day have I begotten thee.
and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, {Or, This is my Son; my beloved in whom I am well pleased. See chapter 12:18}This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and {Or, maketh}made intercession for the transgressors.
And I, if I be lifted up {Or, out of}from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.
But thanks be to God, {Or, that ye were…but ye became}that, whereas ye were {Greek: bondservants.}servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that {Or, pattern}form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered;
and being made free from sin, ye became {Greek: bondservants.}servants of righteousness.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification.
For when ye were {Greek: bondservants.}servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness.
What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called {Or, Wonderful counsellor}Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, {Hebrew: Father of Eternity.}Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
in whom the god of this {Or, age}world hath blinded the {Greek: thoughts. Chapter 4:4, 11:3}minds of the unbelieving, {Or, that they should not see the light…image of God}that the {Greek: illumination.}light of the {See marginal note on chapter 2:12.}gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them.
Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye {Greek: washed yourselves.}were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
Wherefore {Isaiah 52:11.}Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate,saith the Lord,And touch no unclean thing;And I will receive you,
I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Father, {Greek: that which thou hast given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me, that &c.}I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
to open their eyes, {Or, to turn them}that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light
{Hosea 1:10; Isaiah 43:6.}And will be to you a Father,And ye shall be to me sons and daughters,saith the Lord Almighty.
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
to the praise of the glory of his grace, {Or, wherewith he endued us}which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved:
Since then the children are sharers in {Greek: blood and flesh. Ephesians 6:12}flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he {Or, may}might bring to nought him that {Or, hath}had the power of death, that is, the devil;
For our wrestling is not against {Greek: blood and flesh.}flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the {Greek: thoughts.}mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:—
but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together {Some ancient authorities read in Christ.}with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus:
for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not of works, that no man should glory.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and {Hebrew: saved.}having {Or, victory}salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who {Some ancient authorities read called.}calleth you into his own kingdom and glory.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Again, a new commandment write I unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shineth.
For we also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,
not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the {Or, laver}washing of regeneration {Or, and through renewing}and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ's, at his {Greek: presence.}coming.
Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to {Greek: the God and Father.}God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death.