Colossians 1

1 ¹Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus by di will of our Papa, and Timothy our brother, ²to di holy and faithful brothers and sisters wey dey for Christ for Colossae: make grace and peace from our Papa dey with una.

We Give Thanks for Una Faith

³We dey always thank our Papa, di Papa of our Oga Jesus Christ, as we dey pray for una, ⁴sote we hear about di faith wey una get for Christ Jesus and di love wey una get for all di holy people, ⁵because of di hope wey dem keep for una for heaven, wey una don already hear inside di message of truth, di gospel, ⁶wey don reach una, and e dey bear fruit and dey grow for di whole world, just as e dey do among una, since di day wey una hear am and truly understand di grace of our Papa for true. ⁷Na from Epaphras una learn am, our beloved fellow servant, wey be faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, ⁸and na im tell us about di love wey una get inside di Holy Spirit.

⁹So, since di day wey we hear, we no stop to dey pray for una, dey ask make God fill una with knowledge of im will inside all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that una fit waka for way wey fit di Oga, and dey please am well well, dey bear fruit for every good work and dey grow for di knowledge of our Papa, ¹¹as im dey make una strong with all power by im glorious might, so that una fit endure and get patience with joy, ¹²and dey give thanks to our Papa, wey make una fit share di inheritance of di holy people for di light. ¹³Na im rescue us from di reign of darkness and carry us come inside di kingdom of im beloved Pikin, ¹⁴for wey we get redemption, di forgiveness of sins.

The Pikin Wey Dey Above Everytin

¹⁵Na im be di image of our Papa wey person no fit see, di firstborn wey dey over all creation. ^a a v15 Di Pikin na di visible likeness of di Papa wey nobody don ever see — to look Jesus na to see how our Papa be. ¹⁶Because na inside am dem create everytin—tins wey dey heaven and for ground, tins wey person fit see and tins wey person no fit see, whether na throne, dominion, power abi authority—na through am and for am dem create everytin. ¹⁷And im dey before all tins, and na inside am all tins dey hold together. ¹⁸Na im be di head of di body, wey be di church. Na im be di beginning, di firstborn from among di dead, so that im go get di first place for everytin. ¹⁹Because our Papa take am well well make all im fullness live inside di Pikin, ²⁰and through am make all tins gree with imsef again, whether na tins wey dey ground abi tins wey dey heaven, as im make peace through di blood of im cross.

²¹One time, una bin far from our Papa, and una be enemy for una mind because of di evil tins wey una dey do. ²²But now our Papa don make una gree with am again through di death of Christ inside im body of flesh, so that im go bring una come im front holy, without blame, and wey nobody fit point finger give, ²³if una truly stand strong for di faith, with strong root and firm ground, and una no comot from di hope of di gospel wey una hear, wey dem don announce give all creation wey dey under heaven, and na servant of am I, Paul, come be.

How Paul Dey Suffer for di Church

²⁴Now I dey rejoice inside di suffering wey I dey suffer for una, and for my body I dey complete wetin still dey lack for di hardship of Christ, for di sake of im body, wey be di church. ^b b v24 Paul no mean say di cross no complete — im mean say im own suffering dey carry di saving work of Christ go further through di church, wey be im body. ²⁵Na servant of di church I come be, through di work wey our Papa give me for una: to announce di word of our Papa in full. ²⁶Di mystery wey dem hide for plenty ages and generations, but wey dem don now reveal give im holy people. ²⁷Na to dem our Papa choose to reveal di glorious riches of dis mystery among di Gentiles, wey be Christ inside una, di hope of glory. ²⁸Na im we dey announce, as we dey warn and dey teach everybody with all wisdom, so that we fit bring everybody come mature inside Christ. ²⁹Na for dis one I dey work hard, dey struggle with all di energy wey our Papa dey give me, wey dey work inside me with power.