Paul, an apostle of AL-MASIH1 ‘ISA2 through the will of God3, and Timothy our brother, 2to the saints and faithful brothers4 in AL-MASIH at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the LORD ‘ISA AL-MASIH.
3We give thanks to God the Father of our LORD ‘ISA AL-MASIH, praying always for you. 4For we have heard of your faith in AL-MASIH ‘ISA, and of the love which you have toward all the saints, 5because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Injil.5 6This Injil has come to you; even as it has in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of AL-MASIH on our behalf. 8He also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason, we also, since the day we heard this, do not cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10that you may live a life worthy of the Lord6 and please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, to endure and persevere with joy; 12giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He delivered us from the power of darkness, and brought us into the Kingdom of his beloved Son. 14In him we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him were all things created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 18He is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the first place. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him; 20and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
21In past times you were alienated and enemies in your mind through your evil works. 22But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death, to present you holy, without blemish and blameless before him. 23However, you must continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Injil. This is the Injil you heard and which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of AL-MASIH for the sake of his body, which is the congregation. 25I was made its servant through the commission God gave me to fully declare his word to you, 26that is, the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. 27To them God was pleased to make known among the nations the glorious riches of this mystery, which is AL-MASIH in you, the hope of glory. 28Him we proclaim, admonishing and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present them complete in AL-MASIH ‘ISA. 29To this end I labour, striving according to his power, which works in me mightily.
- 1:1 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
- 1:1 ‘ISA – The names ‘ISA (Arabic), ISHO (Syriac) and JESUS (Greek, IESOUS) are all derived from the Hebrew name YEHOSHUA, which means “YAHWEH saves.” (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
- 1:1 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 1:2 The word for “brothers” here and where context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.” ↩︎
- 1:5 Injil, this Arabic word is derived from Euangel (Greek) and means “good news” or “Gospel” (old English for ‘good news’). Depending on context, Injil can refer to,
1. the whole Christian New Testament containing 27 books,
2. the first 4 books of the New Testament, that is, the Injil according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, or,
3. the message or “good news” of forgiveness of sins through ‘ISA AL-MASIH, revealed in the holy Injil (or New Testament). ↩︎ - 1:10 Lord, translated from the Greek kurios. Depending on context, it can refer to: 1. God, 2. ’ISA AL-MASIH, 3. men in authority, such as kings, landlords, etc., 4. a respectful salutation meaning, “sir.” ↩︎