Paul's Letter to the Colossians

Colossians 1

1. I, Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and brother Timothy,
2. To those who are in Colossae, holy and true brethren through the Faith in Jesus Christ, peace be with you and the grace of God our Father.

3. We confess in every season to God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray on our knees over you,
4. Behold, ever since we heard of your Faith in Jesus Christ, and your love for all the saints,
5. Because the Hope Who guards you in heaven, Whom you heard from time of old through the earnestness of that Hope's manifestation,
6. That [Spirit] of Whom I preach to you, as I did to the whole world, and [that Spirit] grew [in you] and bore fruit, whereas from the day that you heard and proclaimed the grace of God in earnest by yourselves also,
7. As you learned from our beloved Apaphras, who is on your behalf Christ's faithful servant,
8. And he declared to us your love of the Spirit.

9. Because of that, from the day that we heard, we did not cease praying over you, and to ask that you be filled with the knowledge of God's will, in all wisdom and all edification of the Spirit,
10. So that you may proceed according to His blessings* and that you may praise God for all the good deeds, and bear fruit, and be nurtured in the knowledge of God.
11. And by all the power that you are endowed* according to the magnificence of His glory, through all Hope and endowment* of the Spirit, with joy,
12. Confess God the Father, who considered us worthy enough of the inheritance of the saints by enlightening us,
13. And He saved us from the powers of darkness and brought us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son,
14. Through Whom we have salvation and the forgiveness of sins,
15. He Who was in the likeness of the invisible God and the heir of all creation,
16. And by Him are nurtured all there is in heaven and on earth, all that can be seen and all that cannot be seen, whether domains or lordships, whether thrones or authorities, everything was created by His hand and by Him.
17. And He was before all and everything is supported by Him,*
18. And He is the head of the Church, Who became the head and first born from the house of the dead,* so as He may be before all of them.
19. So that all rule is willed by Him.
20. And by His hand He shepherds everything, and He marked us with the blood of His hands, whether on earth or in heaven.

21. Also those of you who were in olden times but strangers and enemies in your outlook, because of your evil doing, He marks you,
22. By the body of his flesh and his death, so that He may raise you before Him as saints, without commitment* or awareness on your part,
23. If you hold fast to your Faith, as your foundation is true, and if you are not shaken from the Revelation of His Kingdom* that which you heard preached in all creation below the sky, of Whom I, Paul, am a servant.
24. And I celebrate the sorrows I endured on your behalf and complement what I lack in the flesh with respect to Christ's suffering on behalf of his body which is the Church.
25. She that I serve according to the authority* given to me by God among you, to complement the Manifestation of God,
26. That Sermon that was hidden from eternity,* for centuries, now then to be revealed to His saints,
27. To those whom God wished it to be revealed as to whom is endowed by the richness of that glorious Sermon, who are here now among the nations, so as the Christ who is in you should be the hope of our glory,
28. He Whom we preach and teach and educate every human being about with all wisdom, so as [that knowledge] should grow in every human being as they mature in Jesus Christ.
29. For in this endeavor I work and wrestle, with the help of the power He has given me.
*1:10 Lit. Ar. id.: "Sanctification."
*1:11 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "By every power you are empowered."
*1:17 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "By Him stands."
*1:18 Lit. Ar. idiom retained: "From the dead."
*1:22 Lit. Ar. id.: "Oaths."
*1:23 Lit. Aramaic word: "Awen-ga-lee-yoon."
*1:25 Lit. Ar. idiomatic figure of speech: "Leadership."
*1:26 Lit. Ar. idiomatic figure of speech: "Universes."

Colossians 2

1. I wish that you would know, but I have endeavored bravely on your behalf, and on behalf of those in Laodicea, and on behalf of many others, those who did not see my face in the flesh.
2. So that your hearts may be full of love, and that you may approach in love all that precious grace, and the edifying knowledge of God's Sermon, of the Father and of Christ,
3. Through Whom are sanctified all the consecrations of wisdom and knowledge.
4. This then I am telling you so that no human being should mislead you by the redemption through words.
5. For even though I am gone from you in the flesh, however in the Spirit I am with you, and I am overjoyed to see your principles and the earnestness of your faith in Christ.
6. Whereas you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, then go forth according to Him.
7. Whereas you validated your roots and are fortified by Him, and you persist in that Faith that you have learned, so as you may be enriched by Him in devotion.
8. Beware that no human being saves you by philosophy and empty deception, according to human learning and according to the doctrines of the world and not of Christ,
9. Within Christ the entire physical manifestation of God is embodied.*
10. And within Him you are also included, so that He is the head of all thrones and powers.
11. And through Whom you are circumcised the circumcision not of the hands, but by the shedding of the flesh of sin, by the circumcision of Christ,
12. And you were buried with Him through the baptism, and within Him you rose up together, so as you may believe in the power of God Who resurrected Him from the house of the dead.
13. And you who were dead in your sins and uncircumcised in the flesh, He resurrected you with Himself and He forgave us all our sins,
14. And He voided with His commandments the conditions of responsibility,* those that were against us and He removed them from our midst and piled them on His Cross,
15. And by sending out His apostles from His body, they spread [His commandments] to all the thrones and authorities, and He put them all to shame by the manifestation of His Trinity.
16. Thus let no human being goad you with respect to eating and drinking or by the designation* of feasts, and argue about months and Sabbaths,
17. These things were mere shadows of what was destined, Christ however is the reality.*
18. And let no human being through the gentleness of spirit instill in you the obligation to worship the work of angels, anticipating what cannot be seen, and to vainly accommodate their own ideas of the flesh,
19. And [they that] consider not the head by whom the entire body is guided and held together with its appendages and members and is nurtured in God's discipline.
20. If you are dead to the principles of the world, together with Christ, why are you, since you live like Him, judge everybody according to the world?
21. Do not go near this, do not taste that and do not hold on to the other,
22. These that are recommendations that come to nothing,* and that are commandments and the learning of humanity.
23. And they appear to possess the manifestation of wisdom, a gentle outlook and submission to God, and they do not relate to the body or any form of reverence, except to what appears appropriate in the flesh.*
*2:9 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "Within Whom is constructed all Godhood bodily."
*2:14 Reference to the Law.
*2:16 Lit. Ar. idiomatic figure of speech: "Divisions."
*2"17 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "The body."
*2:22 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "The worth that spoils."
*2:23 A reference to the appeal of ritual.

Colossians 3

1. If you thus rise with Christ, as you yearn for what is above, you will notice Christ sits at the right of God.
2. So as you may look up [to heaven] and not to earth.
3. For your death and your eternal life are hidden with Christ in God.
4. And when Christ reveals to everyone that He represents our eternal life, then you too shall be revealed with Him in glory.

5. Thus bury your earthly desires,* demonic behavior, murderous rage, lust for evil, magic -- which are the rituals of idol worship.*
6. For it is because of these that God's anger descends on the children of non-adherence.*
7. And according to these you also lived by from times of old, as you had reverted back [from the true faith.]
8. Now then, let them all rest: anger, rage, evil acts, cussing, demonic speech.
9. And do not lie to each other, except discard the garments of the old human being together with all their recalcitrance,
10. And put on the new garments that renew the cognizance of what that image He created resembles,
11. It does not matter whether Jew or Aramaean,* circumcised or uncircumcised, Greek or barbarian,* a slave or the son of the free; except for all and for every human being, He is the Christ.
12. Attire yourselves thus as chosen ones of God, holy and beloved, compassionate, sympathetic and pleasant, good-willed, patient and spiritually motivated,
13. You should proffer Hope [of the Kingdom] one to another, and if a human being has a complaint against their friend, just as Christ forgave you, likewise you also forgive them.
14. And together with all these, espouse love, which constitutes maturity.
15. And let your heart be guided by Christ, to Whom you were called as one body, and let your confession be in Christ.*
16. So that His manifestation grows in you with all wisdom, and that you may be guided and teach others through Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and that you may sing with blessings in your hearts to God.
17. And every commitment* that you make by manifestation and by deed, make it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you should make your confession to God the Father by His hand.*

18. Women, submit to your husbands to the extent of their holiness toward Christ.
19. Men, love your women, and be not bitter toward them.
20. Children, listen to your parents in everything. For this is pleasing before our Lord.
21. Parents, do not turn your children toward wrath, so they will not become anguished.
22. Servants, listen to your employers,* in everything, and not just in pretense,* like to those who flatter everyone,* except with a simple heart and with the fear of the Lord.
23. And whatever you do, put your soul in it,* like you are doing it for our Lord and not like you are doing it for the sake of humanity.
24. And you should know that from our Lord you will receive the recompense in the inheritance, because it is for the Lord the Messiah that you are working.
25. A disciple then is repaid according to what they have learned at school, and there is no favoritism.*
*3:5.1 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Kill thusly your members that are in the earth."
*3:5.2 Lit. Ar. expression: "The submission to idols."
*3:6 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Children of non-adherents," or " the non-believers."
*3:11.1 "Jew or Aramaean" is correct, not "Jew or Greek" as is in Western translations. Jews and Aramaeans were culturally similar. They shared the same language for one thing. Customs were the same, etc.
*3:11.2 In this passage occurs a great distortion in Western translations. The name "Scythian" is substituted for "Greek." "Scythians" is a total fabrication. There was no reference to Scythians in the context of early Christianity anywhere in Scriptures or in the lands where Christianity was preached. "Greeks and barbarians" is correct, referring to the fact that both groups came from polytheism and paganism.
*3:15 Lit. Ar. expression retained: "Preach about Christ."
*3:17.1 Lit. Ar. idiomatic figure of speech: "Oath."
*3:17.2 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression retained: "By His hand": only by "the power of Christ" can one declare God their Father.
*3:22.1 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Masters of the flesh."
*3:22.2 Lit. Ar. expression: "Showing of the face."
*3:22.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Praise humanity."
*3:23 Lit. Ar. expression: "Do it with all your soul."
*3:25 Lit. Ar. expression: "Splitting of faces."

Colossians 4

1. Masters, be fair and righteous in the treatment of your servants, and you should know that you too have a Master in heaven.

2. Let your affirmation of faith in prayer be on your knees, and be fully aware throughout of what you are praying for and confessing.
3. And pray on your knees also for us, that God may open up the door of His Manifestation to us, so we may preach the sermon of Christ, for the sake of which I am a prisoner.
4. So I may reveal it and fulfill it according to what is my duty.
5. Go out with wisdom in the wilderness and sell your last crust of bread.*
6. And let your manifestation be compassionate in every season, as though seasoned with salt. And you should differentiate between people* according to how you should reply to each.

7. This news about me is brought to you, however, by the beloved brother, Tychicus, faithful and righteous minister in the Lord.
8. This one that I am sending to you because of this, will also inform me about how things are with you and about what your hearts are prophesying,
9. Together with him, the faithful and beloved brother, Onesimus, who is one of you. These two will tell you about how things are with us.
10. My neighbor Aristarchus says shalom to you, and Mark, Barnabas' cousin [on the father's side,] whom you invited to come, as he was acceptable to you,
11. And Yshu who is called Justus, these who are of the circumcision, and they that are alone my helpers in the Kingdom of God, and those who encourage my heart.
12. Saying shalom is Apaphras, who is from your people and servant of Christ, who works on your behalf in every season, praying down on his knees, so that you may grow in maturity and fulfillment of God's will.
13. For I testify over his zeal on your behalf and on those of Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14. Saying shalom is Luke, our beloved physician, and Demas.
15. Say shalom to the Laodicean brethren, and Nympha and the congregation in her house.
16. And when this Letter is read to you, see that it is also read to the congregation in Laodicea. And the one that is written from Laodicea, read it also there.
17. And tell Archippus to be cognizant of the ministry that was acceptable in our Lord, that he should accomplish it.
18. Shalom, here, in my own handwriting, Paul. Remember me in my chains. Blessings be with you, amen.

(End of the Letter to the Colossians that was written from Rome.)

*4:2 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "Affirm yourself on your knees in prayer and remain aware through it and confessing."
*4:5 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression retained: "Sell your crust," or "make a full commitment."
*4:6 Lit. Ar. expression: "Know to human human."

Translated by Victor Alexander © 2000

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