1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, (林前1:1; 林后1:1; 帖前3:2)2To the saints and faithful brothers[1] in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. (羅1:7; 弗1:1; 腓1:1)
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, (弗1:15; 门1:4)4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, (帖前1:3)5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, (徒23:6; 弗1:13; 西1:23; 提后4:8; 多1:2; 來3:6; 彼前1:4)6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, (诗98:3; 太24:14; 约15:5; 约15:16; 徒11:23; 羅16:26; 弗4:21; 腓1:11; 西1:23)7just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.[2] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[3] behalf (西4:7; 西4:12; 门1:23)8and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. (羅15:30)9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, (林前12:8; 弗1:8; 弗1:17; 西1:4; 西4:5; 帖后1:11)10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (诗1:1; 诗1:3; 林后5:9; 弗4:1; 弗5:10; 西1:6; 帖前4:1)11being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; (太5:12; 弗3:16; 弗4:2)12giving thanks[4] to the Father, who has qualified you[5] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (徒26:18; 弗5:20; 西3:15)13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, (路22:53; 弗1:6; 弗6:12; 帖前1:10; 彼后1:11)14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (弗1:7)
The Preeminence of Christ
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (诗89:27; 羅8:29; 林后4:4; 提前1:17)16For by[6] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (结10:1; 羅11:36; 林前8:6; 弗1:10; 弗1:21)17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (约1:1; 约8:58; 來1:3)18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (徒26:23; 林前15:20; 弗1:22; 启1:5; 启3:14)19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (约1:16; 西2:9)20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (林后5:18; 弗1:10; 弗2:13; 弗2:14)21And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, (弗2:1; 弗2:12; 多1:16)22he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, (羅7:4; 林前1:8; 弗1:4; 弗5:27; 犹1:24)23if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation[7] under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (可16:15; 约15:4; 徒2:5; 林后3:6; 弗3:17; 西1:5; 西2:7)
Paul’s Ministry to the Church
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, (林后1:5; 林后7:4; 弗4:12; 提后1:8; 提后2:10)25of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, (弗3:2; 西1:23)26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. (羅16:25; 弗3:9)27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (弗1:18; 弗3:16; 西1:26; 西2:2; 提前1:1)28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (太5:48; 西1:22)29For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (林前15:10; 弗1:19; 西2:1; 西4:12; 提前4:10)