Philemon 1

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy to Philemon, the beloved and our fellow worker,

and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. \*

I always thank my God, making mention of you in my prayers,

hearing of your love and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,

that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of everything good {that is} among us for Christ.

For I had much joy and comfort because of your love, because the inner parts of the saints are being refreshed by you, brother. \*

Therefore, having much boldness in Christ to command you the {thing that} is proper {to do},

because of love I appeal to you instead—being such a one as Paul, an elder, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus. \*

I am appealing to you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whom I have fathered in my chains.

The one formerly useless to you, but now useful both to you and to me,

whom I have sent back to you—him—this one is my inner parts;

whom I desired to keep with me, so that he might serve me on behalf of you in the chains of the gospel. \*

But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your good {deed} might not be as according to compulsion but according to good will.

For perhaps because of this he was separated from {you} for an hour, so that you might have him back forever,

no longer as a slave, but better than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me, but much more so to you, in both the flesh and in the Lord. \*

Therefore, if you have me {as} a partner, receive him as me.

But if he has wronged you or owes {you} anything, charge that to me.

I, Paul, wrote this with my own hand. I myself will pay it back—in order not to say to you that you also owe me even your own self!

Yes, brother, may I benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my inner parts in Christ. \*

Having become confident in your obedience, I wrote to you, having known that you will do even beyond what I am saying.

But at the same time, also prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given back to you. \*

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,

Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, {and} Luke, my fellow workers.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ {be} with your spirit. Amen.