Philemon 1

Greeting

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother: To Philemon our dear friend and coworker,²³to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home.⁴

⁵Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.⁶

Philemon’s Love and Faith

⁷I always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers,⁸⁹because I hear of your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus.¹⁰¹¹I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ.¹²¹³For I have great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.¹⁴

An Appeal for Onesimus

¹⁵For this reason, although I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right,¹⁶¹⁷I appeal to you, instead, on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an elderly man and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus,¹⁸¹⁹appeal to you for my son, Onesimus. I became his father while I was in chains.²⁰²¹Once he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.²²²³I am sending him back to you — I am sending my very own heart.²⁴²⁵I wanted to keep him with me, so that in my imprisonment for the gospel he might serve me in your place.²⁶²⁷But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be out of obligation, but of your own free will.²⁸²⁹For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a brief time, so that you might get him back permanently,³⁰³¹no longer as a slave, but more than a slave — as a dearly loved brother. He is especially so to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.³²

³³So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would me.³⁴³⁵And if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.³⁶³⁷I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it — not to mention to you that you owe me even your very self.³⁸³⁹Yes, brother, may I benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.⁴⁰⁴¹Since I am confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.⁴²⁴³Meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, since I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.⁴⁴

Final Greetings

⁴⁵Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, and so do⁴⁶⁴⁷Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my coworkers.⁴⁸

⁴⁹The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.⁵⁰