Colossians 3:23

3:23 Whatever you are doing, ¹  work at it with enthusiasm, ²  as to the Lord and not for people, ³ 

Colossians 3:8

3:8 But now, put off all such things ⁴  as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

Colossians 4:9

4:9 I sent him ⁵  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ⁶  They will tell ⁷  you about everything here.

Colossians 1:13

1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, ⁸ 

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 2:14

2:14 He has destroyed ¹¹  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ¹²  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 4:11

4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ¹³  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

Colossians 4:16

4:16 And after ¹⁴  you have read this letter, have it read ¹⁵  to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea ¹⁶  as well.

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ¹⁷  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ¹⁸ 

Colossians 2:19

2:19 He has not held fast ¹⁹  to the head from whom the whole body, supported ²⁰  and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ²¹ 

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ²²  of Christ, ²³  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ²⁴  in all the will of God.

[3:23]  ¹ 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.

[3:23]  ² tn Grk “from the soul.”

[3:23]  ³ tn Grk “men”; here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense and refers to people in general.

[3:8]  ⁴ 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.”

[4:9]  ⁷ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).

[2:12]  ¹³ tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:12]  ¹⁴ tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”

[2:14]  ¹⁶ 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.

[2:14]  ¹⁷ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

[4:11]  ¹⁹ 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.

[4:16]  ²² tn Grk “when.”

[4:16]  ²³ tn The construction beginning with the imperative ποιήσατε ἵνα…ἀναγνωσθῇ (poihsate Jina…anagnwsqh) should be translated as “have it read” where the conjunction ἵνα functions to mark off its clause as the direct object of the imperative ποιήσατε. The content of the clause (“reading the letter”) is what Paul commands with the imperative ποιήσατε. Thus the translation “have it read” has been used here.

[4:16]  ²⁴ sn This letter is otherwise unknown, but some have suggested that it is the letter known today as Ephesians.

[1:18]  ²⁵ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ²⁶ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

[2:19]  ²⁸ tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

[2:19]  ²⁹ tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

[2:19]  ³⁰ tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”

[4:12]  ³¹ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ³² tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ³³ tn Or “filled.”