Philemon

English Standard Version

Greeting

¹Paul, ^(A)a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and ^(B)Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker ²and Apphia our sister and ^(C)Archippus our ^(D)fellow soldier, and ^(E)the church in your house:

³^(F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon's Love and Faith

⁴^(G)I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, ⁵because I ^(H)hear of your love and ^(I)of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, ⁶and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full ^(J)knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.^[a] ⁷For I have derived much joy and ^(K)comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints ^(L)have been refreshed through you.

Paul's Plea for Onesimus

⁸Accordingly, ^(M)though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do ^(N)what is required, ⁹yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now ^(O)a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰I appeal to you for ^(P)my child, ^(Q)Onesimus,^[b] ^(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.) ¹²I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. ¹³I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me ^(S)on your behalf ^(T)during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be ^(U)by compulsion but of your own accord. ¹⁵For this perhaps is why ^(V)he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ¹⁶^(W)no longer as a bondservant^[c] but more than a bondservant, as ^(X)a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, ^(Y)both in the flesh and in the Lord.

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

²¹^(AC)Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²²At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for ^(AD)I am hoping that ^(AE)through your prayers ^(AF)I will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

²³^(AG)Epaphras, my ^(AH)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, ²⁴and so do ^(AI)Mark, ^(AJ)Aristarchus, ^(AK)Demas, and ^(AL)Luke, my fellow workers.

²⁵^(AM)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Footnotes

Philemon 1:6 Or for Christ's service
Philemon 1:10 Onesimus means useful (see verse 11) or beneficial (see verse 20)
Philemon 1:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; twice in this verse

Proverbs 7

English Standard Version

Warning Against the Adulteress

7 ^(A)My son, keep my words
    and ^(B)treasure up my commandments with you;
²^(C)keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as ^(D)the apple of your eye;
³^(E)bind them on your fingers;
    ^(F)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
⁵to keep you from ^(G)the forbidden^[a] woman,
    from ^(H)the adulteress^[b] with her smooth words.

⁶For at ^(I)the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
⁷and I have seen among ^(J)the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man ^(K)lacking sense,
⁸passing along the street ^(L)near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
⁹in ^(M)the twilight, in the evening,
    at ^(N)the time of night and darkness.

¹⁰And behold, the woman meets him,
    ^(O)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.^[c]
¹¹She is ^(P)loud and ^(Q)wayward;
    ^(R)her feet do not stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the market,
    and ^(S)at every corner she ^(T)lies in wait.
¹³She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with ^(U)bold face she says to him,
¹⁴“I had to ^(V)offer sacrifices,^[d]
    and today I have ^(W)paid my vows;
¹⁵so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
¹⁶I have spread my couch with ^(X)coverings,
    colored linens from ^(Y)Egyptian linen;
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with ^(Z)myrrh,
    aloes, and ^(AA)cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹For ^(AB)my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with ^(AC)her smooth talk she compels him.
²²All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast^[e]
²³    till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ^(AD)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴And ^(AE)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
²⁵Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
²⁶for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are ^(AF)a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is ^(AG)the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

Footnotes

Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 7:10 Hebrew guarded in heart
Proverbs 7:14 Hebrew peace offerings
Proverbs 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as a chain to discipline a fool