Phm1:1 GreetingPaul's Concern for a Slave Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,
Phm1:2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
Phm1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.Philemon's Love and Faith
Phm1:4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
Phm1:5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
Phm1:6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
Phm1:7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.The Plea for Onesimus
Phm1:8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,
Phm1:9 yet 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--
Phm1:10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
Phm1:11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
Phm1:12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
Phm1:13 whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
Phm1:14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
Phm1:15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
Phm1:16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave--a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.Philemon's Obedience Encouraged
Phm1:17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
Phm1:18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.
Phm1:19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay--not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.
Phm1:20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
Phm1:21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
Phm1:22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.Farewell
Phm1:23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
Phm1:24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
Phm1:25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.