Paulus Apostolus Jesu Christi per voluntatem Dei, et Timotheus frater:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, a brother,

From Paul, by God’s purpose an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Timothy who is their brother,

eis, qui sunt Colossis, sanctis, et fidelibus fratribus in Christo Jesu.

To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ Jesus, who are at Colossa.

to the saints at Colossae, our brethren who believe in Jesus Christ;

Gratia vobis, et pax a Deo Patre nostro, et Domino Jesu Christo. Gratias agimus Deo, et Patri Domini nostri Jesu Christi semper pro vobis orantes:

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.

Grace be yours and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, continually in our prayers for you,

audientes fidem vestram in Christo Jesu, et dilectionem quam habetis in sanctos omnes

Hearing your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have towards all the saints.

when we are told of your faith in Jesus Christ, and the love which you shew to all the saints;

propter spem, quæ reposita est vobis in cælis: quam audistis in verbo veritatis Evangelii:

For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard in the word of the truth of the gospel,

such hope have you of what awaits you in heaven. Hope was the lesson you learned from that truth-giving message of the Gospel

quod pervenit ad vos, sicut et in universo mundo est, et fructificat, et crescit sicut in vobis, ex ea die, qua audistis, et cognovistis gratiam Dei in veritate,

Which is come unto you, as also it is in the whole world, and bringeth forth fruit and groweth, even as it doth in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.

which has reached you, which now bears fruit and thrives in you, as it does all the world over, since the day when you heard of God’s grace and recognized it for what it is.

sicut didicistis ab Epaphra carissimo conservo nostro, qui est fidelis pro vobis minister Christi Jesu,

As you learned of Epaphras, our most beloved fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ Jesus;

Your teacher was Epaphras, for us, a well-loved fellow bondsman, and for you a loyal minister of Jesus Christ;

qui etiam manifestavit nobis dilectionem vestram in spiritu.

Who also hath manifested to us your love in the spirit.

and it is he who has told us of this love which you cherish in the Spirit.

Ideo et nos ex qua die audivimus, non cessamus pro vobis orantes, et postulantes ut impleamini agnitione voluntatis ejus, in omni sapientia et intellectu spiritali:

Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding:

So, ever since the news reached us, we have been praying for you in return, unceasingly. Our prayer is, that you may be filled with that closer knowledge of God’s will which brings all wisdom and all spiritual insight with it.

ut ambuletis digne Deo per omnia placentes: in omni opere bono fructificantes, et crescentes in scientia Dei:

That you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God:

May you live as befits his servants, waiting continually on his pleasure; may the closer knowledge of God bring you fruitfulness and growth in all good.

in omni virtute confortati secundum potentiam claritatis ejus, in omni patientia et longanimitate cum gaudio,

Strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory, in all patience and longsuffering with joy,

May you be inspired, as his glorious power can inspire you, with full strength to be patient and to endure; to endure joyfully,

gratias agentes Deo Patri, qui dignos nos fecit in partem sortis sanctorum in lumine:

Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:

thanking God our Father for making us fit to share the light which saints inherit,

qui eripuit nos de potestate tenebrarum, et transtulit in regnum filii dilectionis suæ,

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,

for rescuing us from the power of darkness, and transferring us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

in quo habemus redemptionem per sanguinem ejus, remissionem peccatorum:

In, whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins;

In the Son of God, in his blood, we find the redemption that sets us free from our sins.

qui est imago Dei invisibilis, primogenitus omnis creaturæ:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

He is the true likeness of the God we cannot see; his is that first birth which precedes every act of creation.

quoniam in ipso condita sunt universa in cælis, et in terra, visibilia, et invisibilia, sive throni, sive dominationes, sive principatus, sive potestates: omnia per ipsum et in ipso creata sunt:

For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and in him.

Yes, in him all created things took their being, heavenly and earthly, visible and invisible; what are thrones and dominions, what are princedoms and powers? They were all created through him and in him;

et ipse est ante omnes, et omnia in ipso constant.

And he is before all, and by him all things consist.

he takes precedency of all, and in him all subsist.

Et ipse est caput corporis Ecclesiæ, qui est principium, primogenitus ex mortuis: ut sit in omnibus ipse primatum tenens:

And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy:

He too is that head whose body is the Church; it begins with him, since his was the first birth out of death; thus in every way the primacy was to become his.

quia in ipso complacuit, omnem plenitudinem inhabitare:

Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father, that all fulness should dwell;

It was God’s good pleasure to let all completeness dwell in him,

et per eum reconciliare omnia in ipsum, pacificans per sanguinem crucis ejus, sive quæ in terris, sive quæ in cælis sunt.

And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven.

and through him to win back all things, whether on earth or in heaven, into union with himself, making peace with them through his blood, shed on the cross.

Et vos cum essetis aliquando alienati, et inimici sensu in operibus malis:

And you, whereas you were some time alienated and enemies in mind in evil works:

You, too, were once estranged from him; your minds were alienated from him by a life of sin;

nunc autem reconciliavit in corpore carnis ejus per mortem, exhibere vos sanctos, et immaculatos, et irreprehensibiles coram ipso:

Yet now he hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unspotted, and blameless before him:

but now he has used Christ’s natural body to win you back through his death, and so to bring you into his presence, holy, and spotless, and unreproved.

si tamen permanetis in fide fundati, et stabiles, et immobiles a spe Evangelii, quod audistis, quod prædicatum est in universa creatura, quæ sub cælo est, cujus factus sum ego Paulus minister.

If so ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, which is preached in all the creation that is under heaven, whereof I Paul am made a minister.

But that means that you must be true to your faith, grounded in it, firmly established in it; nothing must shift you away from the hope you found in the gospel you once listened to. It is a gospel which has been preached to all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have been brought into its service.

Qui nunc gaudeo in passionibus pro vobis, et adimpleo ea quæ desunt passionum Christi, in carne mea pro corpore ejus, quod est Ecclesia:

Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church:

Even as I write, I am glad of my sufferings on your behalf, as, in this mortal frame of mine, I help to pay off the debt which the afflictions of Christ still leave to be paid, for the sake of his body, the Church.

cujus factus sum ego minister secundum dispensationem Dei, quæ data est mihi in vos, ut impleam verbum Dei:

Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given me towards you, that I may fulfil the word of God:

When I entered its service I received a commission from God for the benefit of you Gentiles, to complete the preaching of his word among you.

mysterium, quod absconditum fuit a sæculis, et generationibus, nunc autem manifestatum est sanctis ejus,

The mystery which hath been hidden from ages and generations, but now is manifested to his saints,

This was the secret that had been hidden from all the ages and generations of the past; now, he has revealed it to his saints,

quibus voluit Deus notas facere divitias gloriæ sacramenti hujus in gentibus, quod est Christus, in vobis spes gloriæ,

To whom God would make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ, in you the hope of glory.

wishing to make known the manifold splendour of this secret among the Gentiles—Christ among you, your hope of glory.

quem nos annuntiamus, corripientes omnem hominem, et docentes omnem hominem, in omni sapientia, ut exhibeamus omnem hominem perfectum in Christo Jesu:

Whom we preach, admonishing every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

Him, then, we proclaim, warning every human being and instructing every human being as wisely as we may, so as to exhibit every human being perfect in Christ Jesus.

in quo et laboro, certando secundum operationem ejus, quam operatur in me in virtute.

Wherein also I labour, striving according to his working which he worketh in me in power.

It is for this that I labour, for this that I strive so anxiously; and with effect, so effectually does his power manifest itself in me.