Colossians 2:14

2:14 He has destroyed ¹  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ²  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 3:8

3:8 But now, put off all such things ³  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ⁴ 

Colossians 4:17

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

Colossians 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ⁵  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ⁶  the word of God,

Colossians 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ⁷  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ⁸  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ⁹  without shifting ¹⁰  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

¹ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

² tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

³ tn The Greek article with τὰ πάντα (ta panta) is anaphoric, referring to the previous list of vices, and has been translated here as “all such things.”

⁵ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

⁷ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

⁸ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

⁹ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

¹¹ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

¹² tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.