Chapter 1
1 I am Paul, and I became an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. I greet you together with our brother Timothy.
2 I am writing to you, the holy and faithful brothers who live in Colosse and believe in Jesus Christ. God is our Father. May He give you peace and grace.
3 We always pray for you and give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 We know that you believe in Jesus Christ and love all God’s holy people.
5 Your hearts are filled not only with faith and love, but also with a confident hope. When you heard the Good News about Christ, you believed the true Word of God. At that time you understood that God had prepared His inheritance for you in heaven. Since then you have had this confident hope that you will receive it.
6 When you heard the truth about Christ, you truly understood what God’s grace is. Since then the Good News has become the meaning of your life and has started changing your hearts. This message changes not only you, but also people all over the world who, like you, have believed in Jesus.
7 Our dear brother Epaphras was the first to tell you about Christ. He is still working among you and serving Christ faithfully.
8 Epaphras told us how much you love one another. And this love comes from the Holy Spirit.
9 Since we heard about you from Epaphras, we have been praying for you regularly. We ask God to give you a clear understanding of what He wants you to do. Then you will be able to live according to His will. May God give you all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
10 We pray that you live according to the requirements the Lord has given us. Always act in a way that pleases Him. Do good deeds, and you will benefit others. Keep growing in the knowledge of God and draw closer to Him.
11 God is glorious and almighty. May He fill you with the same great power that comes from Him. Then you will be able to endure any difficulties, be patient with others, and remain joyful even in trials.
12 God is our Father. Thank Him for giving us the right to share His inheritance with all His holy people who live in His light.
13 God rescued us from the darkness, and the darkness lost all its power over us. God brought us into His kingdom, where His beloved Son Jesus reigns.
14 When the Son of God shed His blood, He paid for our freedom, and we received the forgiveness of sins.
15 No one can see God. But Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is the Son of God and He is the same as His Father. Jesus existed before this whole world was created.
16 He created everything in heaven and on earth. He made everything we can see and everything we cannot see. He gave kings authority to rule over the nations. He appointed rulers to lead others. He created the entire hierarchy of authority in both the visible world and the spiritual realm. He created everything, and everything belongs to Him alone.
17 Jesus has always existed. He existed before this whole world was created. And now He holds the whole world in His hands.
18 Jesus is the Head of the Church, and the Church is His Body. He is the beginning of everything. Jesus was the first to rise from the dead so that He would be the first and most important in everything.
19 God is the Father of Jesus. He wanted all of Himself to live in Jesus. All of God’s perfection and all of God’s power are in Christ.
20 The Son of God shed His blood on the cross. And through His Son God restored peace to all His creation in heaven and on earth.
21 You used to be far from God. You were against Him and acted like His enemies. That is why you didn’t want to do what was right and did what was evil.
22 But now God has reconciled you to Himself through Jesus’s physical death on the cross. He did this so that you can stand before him holy, blameless, and without fault, as if you had never sinned.
23 But you must keep believing in Christ and not doubt. When you heard the Good News about Jesus, it filled your hearts with a confident hope that you must hold on to until the end. Everyone on earth needs to hear this News about Christ. That is why I, Paul, became a minister to tell everyone about Jesus.
24 When I was preaching to you about Christ, I was thrown into prison. Now I am suffering, but I rejoice that you have believed in Jesus. It means that my suffering was not in vain. The Church is the Body of Christ. And I am willing to suffer for the Church, because Christ also suffered for her on the cross. Of course, my suffering cannot be compared with Christ’s suffering. But I accept it with joy, because I suffer for the sake of the Body of Christ.
25 God has entrusted me with the care of His Church, and that is why I have become its minister. I do this for your benefit to fulfill God’s will and to fully share His Word with you.
26 For many centuries and generations no one knew that God wanted to save all nations through Christ. But now God has revealed this mystery to those who believe in Jesus.
27 This is the mystery that God wanted to reveal to His people. God has enriched all nations with his glory, not just the Jews. Gentiles, Christ now lives in your hearts too. And this gives you a confident hope that you will enter God’s glory.
28 We preach about Christ and lead people to the understanding of the truth. We teach everyone with all wisdom, so that everyone may become spiritually mature and belong fully to Jesus Christ.
29 That is why I work for the Lord. The power of Christ works mightily in me, and I fully rely on His power. That is why I overcome every difficulty that I face in my ministry.
Chapter 2
1 I want you to know that I am facing great challenges and I am going through an internal struggle. But despite all this, I keep serving the Lord. I pray that my ministry will be a blessing to you and to those who live in Laodicea. Even though some of you have never met me in person.
2 Love one another, because love unites us and brings peace to our hearts. Then God the Father will reveal to you His mystery about Christ. I want you to have a full and deep understanding of this mystery of God, so that Christ may be revealed to you.
3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. Only in Him will you find everything that is really valuable and true.
4 I am telling you this so that no one can deceive you or lead you away from the truth.
5 I am far away from you physically, but I am with you spiritually. I see that you have firm faith in Christ, and I rejoice that you are doing so well.
6 When you turned to Jesus Christ, He became your Lord. Keep following Him and do as He did.
7 Now Jesus is the meaning of your life. Let your roots grow deep in Him so that your faith will not be shallow, but strong and deep. You know that thanksgiving strengthens your faith. So the more you thank God, the stronger your faith becomes.
8 Brothers, be careful that no one leads you away from the truth. The people of this world have created their own values and ideals that go against God’s Word. Do not be deceived by worldly philosophies, empty and deceptive ideas, or human traditions. Instead, follow the teachings of Christ, not the rules invented by men.
9 Live as Jesus teaches, because everything that God Himself is lives in Jesus. In Christ, all God’s perfection and all God’s power were embodied. When Christ came to earth in a human body, God fully revealed Himself to people.
10 Christ has filled you with Himself. In Christ, you have everything you need, because He is the Head over every earthly authorities and spiritual power.
11 In the past, only the Jews were God’s people. They were traditionally circumcised. That was a sign that they wanted to cleanse their hearts from sin and belong to God. But now God lives in everyone who believes in Jesus, and Christ Himself cleanses us from the inside. This is true circumcision. Jesus has set you free from your sinful nature, and you have already become God’s people. So we no longer need to be circumcised as the Jews practiced it. Gentiles, you have believed in Jesus, and now you also live with God. You also have been circumcised, not by a man, but by Christ Himself. It was not a physical circumcision of your body, but a spiritual circumcision of your inner person. Christ has cleansed your heart from sin, changed you from the inside, and set you free from your sinful nature.
12 By His incredible power, God raised Christ from the dead. When you were baptized, you went under the water. In this way, you showed that you believed in the power of God who brought Jesus back to life. When you went under the water, that was a sign that you had died, just as Jesus had died. Then you came out of the water. That was a sign that you had risen, just as Jesus had risen from the dead.
13 You used to be spiritually dead because of your sins. You did not belong to God, because you lived under the power of your sinful nature. But now God has forgiven all our sins. He made you alive with Christ and gave you a new life.
14 There was a long list of our sins in the Law of Moses. That list accused us, condemned us to death, proved our guilt before God, and showed that we deserved God’s punishment. But when Christ came, He taught that no one can keep the whole Law of Moses. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and lived a holy, sinless life. So He took our guilt upon Himself and paid for our sins with His blood. He nailed that list of our sins to the cross and removed the guilt and condemnation from our lives forever. In this way, Jesus delivered us from God’s punishment and opened the way for us to come to God.
15 Christ has made powerless the rulers and authorities in the spiritual realm. He defeated all the invisible forces of evil that had ruled over people and kept them in bondage to sin. On the cross, He exposed them to the whole world, took away their power, and put them to shame. He revealed their evil nature and showed that now they were defeated. Jesus died and rose again. And on the cross He won a final and triumphant victory over all the forces of evil.
16 Christ has set you free from the rules of the Law of Moses and has cleansed your hearts from sin. So it does not matter what you eat or drink, or which Jewish festivals you celebrate. It makes no difference whether you celebrate the beginning of the new moon or keep the Sabbath. No one has the right to judge you for this, because it was Christ who set you free from sin, not the rules of the Law of Moses.
17 All the Old Testament rituals, festivals, and rules pointed to the coming of Christ. They were only a shadow of what was to come in the future. This future had already arrived when Christ came to earth and fulfilled everything written in the Law. Now you must follow what Christ teaches, not the Law of Moses.
18 Some people claim that angels have appeared to them and that they have had special spiritual experiences. That is why they now worship angels. Such people seem humble and spiritual, but they are actually deceived. They are controlled by their sinful nature and their minds are not enlightened by God’s Spirit. So do not believe them or their revelations.
19 You should know that such people do not follow Jesus. Christ is the Head of the Church, and the Church is His Body. Christ holds His Church together. He connects all believers, just as joints and bands connect the parts of the body. God cares for the Church and helps each believer grow spiritually.
20 So, when you were baptized, you went under the water. That was a sign that you had died, just as Jesus died. When you came up out of the water, that was a sign that you had been raised to life, just as Jesus was raised. Now you live a new life with Christ. This means that you no longer belong to this world and do not live by its values which go against God’s Word. Christ has set you free from keeping the Law of Moses and from the prohibitions invented by people. So why do you go back to your old life as if you still do not know Christ? You still submit to empty rituals that cannot change a person’s heart.
21 The rules say, “Do not take it! Do not eat it! Do not touch it!”
22 All these prohibitions are about things that will finally disappear. They are just rules and teachings made up by people, and that is why such rules have no spiritual power.
23 The one who follows these rules and prohibitions seems especially religious. Such a person shows off humility, suppresses the natural needs of his body, and in this way, he pushes himself to exhaustion. That is why such teachings may seem wise. But they do not help a person overcome his sinful desires.
Chapter 3
1 You died to your old sinful life and were raised with Christ. Now He sits in heaven at the right hand of God in a place of highest honor. So focus on what is heavenly and eternal, not on what is earthly and temporary.
2 Think about eternal spiritual values, not about earthly things that will soon disappear.
3 You used to live in sin, but now you have died to your old sinful life. In God you have found a safe refuge from this world. Now you live in union with Christ, and your new life is hidden in God.
4 Christ is your life. When He returns to earth, you also will come with Him in His glory.
5 You used to live under the power of your old sinful nature. But now you must put to death your old sinful life once and for all. Sexual immorality, evil desires, harmful addictions, and shameful lust must no longer live in your hearts. Put greed to death as well. The one who loves his possessions more than God puts them above God and worships them as idols.
6 Because of such sins, God will pour out His wrath on those who disobey Him and reject His truth. This will happen when Jesus returns to earth.
7 You also used to live like everyone else and commit the same sins.
8 But now you must leave behind your old way of life. Stop being angry or furious. Do not harm others, do not insult one another, and do not speak impure words.
9 Do not deceive one another. Take off your sinful nature like old clothes, and do not go back to your old way of life anymore.
10 Instead, clothe yourselves with the new nature that God gives you. Keep learning about Him and renew your inner person so that you may become more and more like the One who created you.
11 Now it is not important whether you are Gentiles or Jews. There is no difference between a circumcised and an uncircumcised person. It does not matter what language you speak or what nationality you are. It is not important whether you are slaves or free. Now Christ united us all and lives in the heart of everyone who believes in Him.
12 God loves you. He chose you and made you holy. So put on God’s new nature in your inner person. Show compassion and do what is good. Do not exalt yourselves above one another, but be kind and very patient.
13 Be patient with one another, even when you see each other’s faults. If you have a reason to be offended or to complain, forgive one another just as Christ forgave you.
14 But above all, clothe your inner person with love. It is love that binds all the good qualities of character together in perfect unity and makes you spiritually mature and complete.
15 God wants you to live in peace with one another, because you are one Body in Christ. So let God fill your hearts with His peace, which will help you make wise decisions and stay united. Be kind to one another and thank God for each other.
16 Study the teachings of Christ and reflect on them. Then His words will live in your hearts and fill you with wisdom. Learn songs of praise from the Psalms written by King David. Encourage one another with solemn hymns of worship. Rejoice together and lift each other up with new songs that the Holy Spirit gives you. Reflect on God’s goodness and sing to God with a thankful heart.
17 Jesus Christ is your Lord, so dedicate your whole life to Him. Then you will be able to speak in His name and act as His representatives. God is your Father, so come to Him through Christ and thank Him for everything He does.
18 Wives, live in harmony with your husbands and accept their leadership with respect, because this is what the Lord has established.
19 Husbands, love your wives. Do not offend them or be rude to them.
20 Children, always obey your parents, because this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not treat your children unfairly. Do not be too strict or harsh with them. Otherwise, they will feel discouraged and close themselves off.
22 Slaves, always obey your masters and take responsibility for everything they entrust to you. Do not work only when they are watching you to gain their approval. Instead, do your work with joy, as if you were serving God, not people.
23 Love everything you do. Work with full dedication, as for the Lord, not for people.
24 Remember that Christ is your Lord. When you obey everything your masters tell you, you are serving the Lord. One day He will reward you, and you will receive the inheritance that God has prepared for His children.
25 But the one who does evil will suffer because of it. God treats everyone with justice.
Chapter 4
1 Masters, do not abuse your authority. Treat each slave fairly and kindly. Remember that you also have a Master in heaven.
2 Set aside regular time for prayer. Pray with a thankful heart and do not get distracted during your prayers.
3 I am in prison because I preached about the Lord. So pray for us also that God will open doors for us to preach His Word. Then we will be able to tell others about the mystery that God wants to reveal to everyone through Christ.
4 Pray for me that I will be able to explain this mystery clearly and in a way that others can understand.
5 Be wise with those who do not believe in Jesus. Use every opportunity to tell them about the Lord.
6 Speak to every unbeliever with kindness and respect. Then talking with you will be as pleasant to him as a delicious meal properly seasoned with salt. In this way, you will be able to find an approach to everyone.
7 Our dear brother Tychicus faithfully serves the Lord and works together with me. He will come to you and tell you everything about what is happening in my life.
8 I am sending Tychicus to you to learn how you are doing and to encourage and strengthen you.
9 He will come to you with our dear brother Onesimus, who is one of your own people. Onesimus is also a faithful servant of the Lord. Tychicus and Onesimus will tell you everything what is happening here.
10 Aristarchus, who was imprisoned with me, sends you his greetings. Mark, Barnabas’s cousin, sends you his greetings. You already know that if Mark comes to you, you should welcome him.
11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends you his greetings. Mark and Justus are the only Jews who are working with me for the Kingdom of God. These brothers have been a support and a joy to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of your own people and a servant of Christ Jesus, also sends you his greetings. He always prays for you with all his heart. He asks God to help you become spiritually mature. He also prays that you may fully understand and fulfill everything that God wants to do in your lives.
13 I can testify that Epaphras serves God with full dedication. He works heard for you and also for those who live in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Our dear doctor Luke sends you his greetings, and so does Demas.
15 Give my greetings to the brothers who live in Laodicea. Also greet Nympha and the church that meets in her home.
16 When you read this letter, send it to the church in Laodicea so that they may also read it. And you should read the letter that I sent to Laodicea.
17 Pass my words to Archippus, “Remember that you must fulfill the ministry the Lord entrusted to you.”
18 I, Paul, greet you and write these final words with my own hand. Remember that I am in prison. May the Lord fill your hearts with His grace. Amen.