Philemon

Philemon

¹From Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, whom we love and who works with us, and to Apphia our sister, ²to Archippus his son, who serves with us, and to those with them in the church. ³Peace to you, and grace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴I always thank my God and remember you in my prayers, ⁵ever since I heard of your faith and of your love for our Lord Jesus Christ and for all the saints. ⁶I pray that the sharing of your faith will become strong through good works and through the knowledge of every good thing that is in Jesus Christ. ⁷I have rejoiced and been glad because of your love, for the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother. ⁸So although I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right, ⁹I appeal to you instead out of love. I, Paul, am an old man, as you know, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. ¹⁰I appeal to you for my son, whom I fathered in my chains, Onesimus. ¹¹Before, he was of no use to you, but now he has become very useful both to you and to me. ¹²I am sending him back to you. Receive him as you would my own son. ¹³I wanted to keep him with me, so that he could serve me in your place while I am in chains for the gospel. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your knowledge, so that your kindness would not be forced, but freely given from your heart. ¹⁵Perhaps this is why he left you for a little while, so that you might have him back forever, ¹⁶no longer as a slave but as more than a slave. If he has become my brother, how much more is he worth to you! Help him as he deserves, both in his body and in the faith of our Lord. ¹⁷So if you are my brother, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it for him. I will not mention that you owe me your very self. Yes, my brother, it is my right. ²⁰Let me have joy from you in our Lord. Refresh me once more, and make my soul glad in Christ. ²¹I write to you because I am confident of your obedience, and I know that you will do even more than I ask. ²²One more thing: prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers God will grant me success and give me back to you. ²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Jesus Christ, sends you greetings, ²⁴as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, who work together with us. ²⁵The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.