Philemon 8–23

The Plea for Onesimus

⁸Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, ⁹yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—¹⁰I appeal to you for my son ^gOnesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, ¹¹who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.

¹²I am sending him ⁷back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own ⁸heart, ¹³whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. ¹⁴But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, ^hthat your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.

¹⁵For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the ⁱflesh and in the Lord.

Philemon’s Obedience Encouraged

¹⁷If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. ¹⁸But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, am writing with my own ^jhand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.

^21kHaving confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²²But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for ^lI trust that ^mthrough your prayers I shall be granted to you.

Farewell

²³ⁿEpaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,