Philemon 1–11

Greeting

¹Paul, ^aa prisoner for Christ Jesus, and ^bTimothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker ²and Apphia our sister and ^cArchippus our ^dfellow soldier, and ^ethe church in your house:

^3fGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

^4gI thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, ⁵because I ^hhear of your love and ⁱof the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, ⁶and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full ^jknowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.^{1 7}For I have derived much joy and ^kcomfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints ^lhave been refreshed through you.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

⁸Accordingly, ^mthough I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do ⁿwhat is required, ⁹yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now ^oa prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰I appeal to you for ^pmy child, ^qOnesimus,^{2 r}whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)