Colossians 1:29

1:29 Toward this goal ¹  I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully ²  works in me.

Colossians 3:23

3:23 Whatever you are doing, ³  work at it with enthusiasm, ⁴  as to the Lord and not for people, ⁵ 

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ⁶  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁷  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Colossians 4:13

4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ⁸  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Colossians 2:12

2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your ⁹  faith in the power ¹⁰  of God who raised him from the dead.

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ¹¹  minds ¹²  as expressed through ¹³  your evil deeds,

Colossians 4:17

4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

Colossians 4:11

4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ¹⁴  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

¹ tn The Greek phrase εἴς ὅ (eis Jo, “toward which”) implies “movement toward a goal” and has been rendered by the English phrase “Toward this goal.”

² tn The prepositional phrase ἐν δυνάμει (en dunamei) seems to be functioning adverbially, related to the participle, and has therefore been translated “powerfully.”

³ tn The present progressive “are doing” was used in the translation of ποιῆτε (poihte) to bring out the idea that Paul is probably referring to what they already do for work.

⁴ tn Grk “from the soul.”

⁵ tn Grk “men”; here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense and refers to people in general.

⁵ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

⁶ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

⁷ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

⁹ tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

¹⁰ tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”

¹¹ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

¹² tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

¹³ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

¹³ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” The verse as a whole is difficult to translate because it is unclear whether Paul is saying (1) that the only people working with him are Jewish converts at the time the letter is being written or previously, or (2) that Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus were the only Jewish Christians who ever worked with him. Verses 12-14 appear to indicate that Luke and Demas, who were Gentiles, were also working currently with Paul. This is the view adopted in the translation. See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 207-8.