Chapter 1
1 I am Paul, and I became the apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. I and brother Timothy are greeting you.
2 I am writing to you, to the holy and faithful brothers in Jesus Christ, who live in Colosse.
3 Receive grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We always pray for you and give thanks to God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 We got to know that you believe in Jesus Christ and love all the holy people of God.
5 When you heard the Good News about Christ, you believed in the true Word of God. So you have already know that God prepared His inheritance for you in heaven. And you have full confidence that you will receive this inheritance of God.
6 The day when you heard the truth about Christ, you understood what God’s grace is. Then the Good News started living in you. Now you believe in Jesus and spread the Good News about Him throughout the world. It brings results, and many people come to Christ. Their faith grows the same way as yours.
7 Our dear brother Epaphras preached to you the Good News about Jesus. He works among you and faithfully serves Christ.
8 He told us that the Holy Spirit filled you with love.
9 Since that time when we heard of it, we regularly pray for you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of what He wants to do in your lives. May God give you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding.
10 You must live according to the requirements which the Lord gave us. Always act in such a way that you would please Him. Do good deeds, and you will see that they will bring results. Grow in the knowledge of God more and more.
11 The Lord has all might and glory. That is why you should come to Him to strengthen yourselves with all His power. Then you will live in joy, because you will be able to develop endurance and patience.
12 Thank God the Father who gave us the right to get His inheritance. We will share the inheritance with all the holy people of God who live in the light.
13 God saved us from the darkness, and the darkness lost its power over us. God brought us into the Kingdom in which His beloved Son rules.
14 When the Son of God shed His blood, He paid for our freedom, and we received the forgiveness of sins.
15 The Son of God is the image of the invisible God. The Father gave birth to His Son before He created the world.
16 God created everything that exists in heaven and on earth. He created everything what we can see and what we cannot see. He created authority for kings to rule over countries. And He gave this authority to people. He appointed rulers to lead others. God created everything, and He did it for Himself.
17 God existed before anything else, and He holds all the creation together.
18 The Son of God became the head of the Church, and the Church is His Body. He is the beginning of everything, and He is the first who was raised from the dead. That is why He is the first in everything.
19 And the Father is pleased that all perfection is in His Son.
20 The Son of God shed His blood on the cross. And God made peace with all that exist in heaven and on earth through His Son. The Father reconciled with Himself all people through His Son.
21 You used to be far from God. You were doing evil deeds, and you were hostile to God in your mind.
22 When the physical body of Christ died on the cross then through His death He created the Church and called it His Body. He reconciled you with God in His Body. That is why now you are in the presence of God. And He can see you holy, blameless, and without any fault.
23 But you must continue to have strong faith and do not doubt. When you heard the Good News about Christ, it brought you firm hope. Do not lose this hope. Everyone who lives on the earth should hear this News. That is why I, Paul, became a minister to preach this Good News to all people.
24 When Christ suffered on the cross, He created the Church. And I also suffer because of you. But I rejoice that I endure physical sufferings because of the Church which is the Body of Christ. However I cannot compare my sufferings with the sufferings of Christ.
25 I serve the Church and build the house of God. God gave me this responsibility for your benefit so that I could fulfill the Word of God.
26 For centuries the secret was hidden in the Word of God. And previous generations of people did not know this secret. But now God revealed it to His holy people.
27 And this is the secret which God wanted to show to His people. God made the Gentiles rich with His glory. Gentiles, now Christ lives in you. And you could be absolutely sure that you will enter into the glory of God.
28 We preach about Christ and bring people to understanding of the truth. We teach each person with all the wisdom so that each person could become spiritually mature in Jesus Christ.
29 That is why I work so hard and patiently endure all the difficulties which I face in my ministry. And I fully rely on the power of Christ which works in me in a mighty way.
Chapter 2
1 I want you to know that I am going through big difficulties. But despite of this, I keep serving the Lord. I pray that my ministry would bring a blessing to you and to those who live in Laodicea. Though some of you have never met me personally.
2 I want you to love one another. Love unites and brings peace to the hearts. I pray that God the Father would reveal to you His mystery about Christ. I also ask God that you could fully and deeply understand this mystery.
3 In Christ you will find all the hidden treasures, and they will bring you wisdom and knowledge.
4 I do not want anyone to convince you with his false words and lead you astray from God’s truth. That is why I am telling you about it.
5 Physically I am far away from you, but spiritually I am with you. I can see that you firmly believe in Christ. And I rejoice that you are going good in everything.
6 When you came to Jesus Christ, you made Him your Lord. Keep following Him and act the way He does.
7 Develop deep roots and grow in Christ. You know that thanksgiving strengthens your faith. So the more you thank God, the stronger your faith becomes.
8 Brothers, do not get interested in philosophy and do not believe in nonsense. The traditions and rules which people make up in this world stand behind these things. On the contrary, you must follow the teachings of Christ.
9 God came in the body of Christ and lives in Him in a full perfection.
10 You also have full perfection of God because you live in Christ who is at the head of all spiritual powers and authorities.
11 Gentiles, you belong to God, and you also went through circumcision. But it was God who circumcised you, not a man. It was Christ who circumcised you, but He did not touch your physical body. Christ circumcised your inner person and removed your sinful nature.
12 God raised Christ from the dead by His power. When you believed in the power of God, you were baptized. During baptism you went under the water and buried yourselves together with Christ. Then you rose from the water and became alive together with Him.
13 You used to sin, and your sins made you dead. You did not circumcise yourself, and you did not belong to God. But God forgave us all our sins and made us alive together with Christ.
14 The list of our sins accused us and made us debtors to God. But Christ nailed the list of our sins to the cross and removed it from our way to God.
15 Christ made the rulers and authorities powerless in the spiritual world. He publicly shamed them and triumphantly defeated them on the cross.
16 It does not matter what you eat and drink. No matter what Jewish festivals you celebrate. It doesn’t matter if you celebrate the beginning of new month, and if you keep the Sabbath. Let no one accuse you for that.
17 Jewish rituals were a shadow of what was to happen in the future. And this future already came when Christ was born into this world in a physical body. Now you should follow Christ, and you should not keep the Jewish rituals.
18 Some people show off their false humility and their sinful thoughts make them proud. They claim that they saw angels, that is why they started worshiping them. But you must not believe such people because they deceive you.
19 Christ is the head of His Body, but such people are not united with the Head. Christ holds the whole Body together. He connects it with joints and holds it together with various connections. God feeds the Body of Christ, and the Church grows.
20 So you died with Christ to the rules which people of this world make up. But you keep acting like these people. You still obey these rules which say,
21 “Do not take it. Do not eat it. Do not touch it”.
22 People prohibit things and make rules, but over time these teachings die.
23 Such teachings may look wise because people show off their religious zeal. They live in false humility and make their bodies exhausted. But prohibitions and rules cannot overcome the evil desires of a person.
Chapter 3
1 You are resurrected with Christ who sits in heavens at the right hand of God in a place of honor. That is why you should pay attention to the reality of heaven.
2 Think of spiritual things, not earthly things.
3 You died for sinful life. In God you found a safe shelter from this world. And now you live a new life with Christ.
4 When He comes to the earth, you will also come with Him in His glory.
5 So make your sinful nature dead. Sexual immorality, evil desires, addictions and nasty lust must die. Kill your greed which makes a person to worship things as an idol.
6 But people keep sinning and keep being hostile to God. And God will be angry with them because of this.
7 You used to live like everyone else. You used to do same kinds of sins like all people do.
8 But now you must leave the old way of life. Do not get angry and do not become furious. Do not take part in evil activities. Do not insult one another and do not say impure words.
9 Do not lie to one another. Take off your sinfulness from your inner person like old clothes. And don’t go back to your sinful behavior.
10 Put on the new nature of God. Get to know God and renew your inner person to become like the Creator.
11 Now it is not important if you are the Gentiles or Jews. There is no difference between a circumcised person and an uncircumcised person. It does not matter what language you speak or what nationality you are. It is not important if you are slaves or free. Now Christ united all of us in Himself.
12 God loves you. He chose you and made you holy. So put the new nature of God on your inner person. Show compassion and do good things. Do not rise above one another, be kind and very patient.
13 Accept one another despite the weaknesses. If you have some reasons to complain then forgive one another as Christ forgave you.
14 But the most important is to dress your inner person in love. Love unites and brings perfection.
15 May God’s peace fill your hearts and help you make the right decisions. You became the members of one Body of Christ. That is why you should live in peace and be friendly with one another.
16 Study carefully what Christ said. Then His Word will live in you and it will make you wise. Learn the songs of praise from the Psalms which King David wrote. Encourage one another with solemn hymns of worship. Inspire each other with new songs which the Holy Spirit gives you. Do your best to learn what God’s grace is then your hearts will sing to the Lord.
17 You represent the Lord Jesus Christ. So speak in His name and act as His representatives. Come through Christ to God the Father and thank Him.
18 Wives, obey your husbands. This is how should behave those who belong to the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not offend them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything because it brings joy to the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not make conflicts with your children, otherwise they will close themselves off from you.
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything. Please them always, and not only when they are watching you. Treat God with deep reverence and serve your masters with a sincere heart.
23 Love what you do. Work diligently, as you would work for the Lord, and not for the people.
24 You should know that you serve Christ who He is your Lord. He will reward you, and you will receive an inheritance.
25 But if you do evil then evil will return to you. God treats all people with justice.
Chapter 4
1 Masters, be fair and just to your slaves. Remember that there is the Lord above you who can see all of us from heaven.
2 Regularly dedicate your time for prayer. Pray with a thankful heart and do not get distracted during your prayer.
3 I became a prisoner because I preached about the Lord. So pray also for us so that God would open the doors for us to preach His Word. Then we will be able to tell others about the mystery of Christ.
4 Pray about me because I must explain the secret of Christ with clear words.
5 Act wisely towards the unbelievers. Spend time with them in a meaningful way.
6 An unbeliever will be able to receive answers to his questions if he understands what the grace of Christ is. Add grace to your words as you add salt to your food.
7 I sent to you our dear brother Tychicus who faithfully serves and works for the Lord. He will tell you everything about me.
8 You will also tell him what is happening with you, and he will calm down your hearts.
9 Tychicus will come to you with brother Onesimus who is one of your own people. Our dear brother Onesimus faithfully serves the Lord. Tychicus and Onesimus will tell you about everything what is happening with us.
10 Aristarchus became a prisoner together with me, and he is sending you greetings. Mark who is a nephew of Barnabas is greeting you. And if Mark comes to visit you, you must accept him.
11 Jesus who everyone calls Justus is sending greetings to you. These are the only Jews who work with me for the Kingdom of God. And they bring me a great joy.
12 Epaphras is one of your own people. He is the servant of Jesus Christ, and he is also greeting you. He always prays hard for you. He asks God to make you mature. He prays that you could fully understand what God wants to do in your lives.
13 I assure you that Epaphras shows a great zeal. He works for you and for those who live in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Our dear doctor Luca and Dimas are greeting you.
15 Send greetings to the brothers who live in Laodicea. Greet Nympha and the church which gathers in her house.
16 Read this letter in your church, then send it to the Laodicean church. And you should read the letter which I wrote to the Laodicean church.
17 Pass my words to Archippus, “Be careful, fulfill the ministry which you received from the Lord.”
18 I, Paul, greet you and sign this letter with my own hand. Remember that I am in prison chains. Live in the grace of the Lord. Amen.