The Nugget:
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. (KJV)
Col 4:12 Epaphras saluteth you, who is from among you, a servant of the Messiah, always laboring for you in prayer, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the good pleasure of God. (Murdock NT)
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, the bondman of Christ Jesus, salutes you, always combating earnestly for you in prayers, to the end that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. (Darby translation)
Col 4:12 Epaphras who is from among you, a servant of Christ Jesus, saluteth you, – at all times, contending in your behalf in his prayers, that ye may be caused to stand complete and fully assured in everything willed by God; (EB, Emphasized Bible)
Col 4:12 Epaphras greets you, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, always struggling for you in his prayers, that you may stand mature and complete in all the will of God. (EMTV, English Majority Text Version)
Col 4:12 Salute you doth Epaphras, who is of you, a servant of Christ, always striving for you in the prayers, that ye may stand perfect and made full in all the will of God, (YLT, Young’s Literal Translation)
Col 4:12 Epaphras, one of your own number, a slave of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you. He is always earnestly pleading for you in his prayers that you may stand fast as men mature and of firm convictions in everything required by the will of God. (Williams NT)
Col 4:12 Greetings from Epaphras, another member of your group and a servant of Christ Jesus. He always prays fervently for you, asking God to make you stand firm, as mature and fully convinced Christians, in complete obedience to God’s will. (GNB, Good News Bible)
Col 4:12 Epaphras, a servant of Christ Jesus from your city, greets you. He always prays intensely for you. He prays that you will continue to be mature and completely convinced of everything that God wants. (GW, God’s Word translation)
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love, ever taking thought for you in his prayers, that you may be complete and fully certain of all the purpose of God. (BBE, Bible in Basic English)
Col 4:12 Your own Epaphras, who serves Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He always prays hard that you may fully know what the Lord wants you to do and that you may do it completely. (CEV, Contemporary English Version)
My Comment:
On this Labor Day Monday I thought it would be appropriate to focus on another form of labor: laboring in prayer.
In these continuing studies about the prayer life and practice of Paul, Paul himself gives in a sentence a summary of his observation of the prayer life and practice of one of his fellow workers.
Paul certainly carefully observes the intensity of the prayers of Epaphras.
Paul tells us what Epaphras prayed about and prayed for.
Reading Colossians 4:12 from several different English translations (I shared this verse from 11 Bible versions above) helps us to grasp the depth of what is being stated in the original language of this text.
A study of these striking aspects of the prayers of Epaphras should be very instructive for us in our own prayers for others and even ourselves today.
A most effective way to dig deeper into what the Bible teaches about these important aspects of prayer is to study the cross references in as complete a source of cross references as you can find. That may furnish material for what I post next.