Philemon

CHAPTER 1

Philemon’s Love and Faith

^1aPaul, ^ba prisoner of ^cChrist Jesus, and ^dTimothy ¹our brother,

To Philemon our beloved brother and ^efellow worker,

²and to Apphia ^1aour sister, and to ^bArchippus our ^cfellow soldier, and to ^dthe church in your house:

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

^4aI thank my God, always making mention of you in my prayers,

⁵because I ^ahear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ¹saints;

⁶and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective ¹through the ^afull knowledge of every good thing which is in you ²for the sake of Christ.

⁷For I have come to have much ^ajoy and comfort in your love, because the ¹hearts of the ²saints have been ^brefreshed through you, brother.

⁸Therefore, ^athough I have much boldness in Christ to command you to do what is ^bproper,

⁹yet for love’s sake I rather ^aplead with you—since I am such a person as Paul, ¹the ^baged, and now also ^ca prisoner of ^dChrist Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus

¹⁰I ^aplead with you for my ^bchild ^1cOnesimus, of whom I became a ²father in my chains,

¹¹who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.

¹²I have sent him back to you in person, that is, my very heart,

¹³whom I intended to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my ^achains for the gospel,

¹⁴but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would ^anot be, in effect, by compulsion but voluntary.

¹⁵For perhaps ^ahe was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever,

^16ano longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^ba beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^cin the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷If then you regard me a ^apartner, accept him as you would accept me.

¹⁸But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

^19aI, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (^bnot to ¹mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well).

²⁰Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord. ^aRefresh my heart in Christ!

^21aHaving confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

²²And at the same time also prepare me a ^alodging, for ^bI hope that through ^cyour prayers ^dI will be graciously given to you.

^23aEpaphras, my ^bfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,

²⁴as do ^aMark, ^bAristarchus, ^cDemas, ^dLuke, my ^efellow workers.

^25aThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^bwith your spirit.^a