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 1,20 Kol 1,20
And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,
But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation;
unto a dispensation of the fulness of the {Greek: seasons.}times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things {Greek: upon.}in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say,
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:
Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and {Or, things of the world below}things under the earth,
And no sin-offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt with fire.
Mercy and truth are met together;Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth springeth out of the earth;And righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
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.
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.
And it shall be the prince's part to give the burnt-offerings, and the meal-offerings, and the drink-offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the meal-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish; and thou shalt cleanse the sanctuary.
And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the door-posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.
And so thou shalt do on the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye make atonement for the house.
Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, {Or, to restrain}to finish {Or, the transgression}transgression, and {Another reading is, to seal up.}to make an end of sins, and to {Or, purge away }make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and {Hebrew: prophet.}prophecy, and to anoint {Or, a most holy place}the most holy.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto {Hebrew: Messiah.}the anointed one, the prince, shall be {Or, seven weeks: and threescore and two weeks, it shall be &c.}seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and {Or, there shall be none belonging to him}shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
{[Chapter 5:1 in Hebrew.]}But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the {Or, families See Judges 6:15.}thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, {Or, from ancient days}from everlasting.
And this man shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight { Or, princes among men}principal men.
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.
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Glory to God in the highest,And on earth {Many ancient authorities read peace, good pleasure among men.}peace among {Greek: men of good pleasure.}men in whom he is well pleased.
And Cornelius said, Four days ago, until this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright apparel,
Being therefore justified {Greek: out of.}by faith, {Many ancient authorities read let us have.}we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having {Or, placed in us}committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition,
having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace;
and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
and he came and {Greek: brought good tidings of peace. Compare Matthew 11:5.}preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh:
Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep {Or, by Greek: in.}with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus,
make you perfect in every good {Many ancient authorities read work.}thing to do his will, working in {Many ancient authorities read you.}us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory {Greek: unto the ages of the ages.}for ever and ever. Amen.
Herein was the love of God manifested {Or, in our case}in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.