Greeting

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

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

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

Philemon’s Love and Faith

4 ^gI thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I ^hhear of your love and ⁱof the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and 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

8 Accordingly, ^mthough I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do ⁿwhat is required, 9 yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now ^oa prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I 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.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me ^son your behalf ^tduring my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be ^uby compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why ^vhe was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 ^wno longer as a bondservant³ but more than a bondservant, as ^xa beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, ^yboth in the flesh and in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me ^zyour partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 ^aI, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. ^bRefresh my heart in Christ.

21 ^cConfident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for ^dI am hoping that ^ethrough your prayers ^fI will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

23 ^gEpaphras, my ^hfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do ⁱMark, ⁱAristarchus, ^jDemas, and ^jLuke, my fellow workers.

25 ^kThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord

A Song of ^mAscents. Of David.