Philemon New American Standard Bible

Salutation

¹^(A)Paul, ^(B)a prisoner of ^(C)Christ Jesus, and ^(D)Timothy ^[a]our brother,

To Philemon our beloved brother and ^(E)fellow worker, ²and to Apphia ^[b]^(F)our sister, and to ^(G)Archippus our ^(H)fellow soldier, and to ^(I)the church in your house: ³^(J)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

⁴^(K)I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, ⁵because I ^(L)hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ^[c]saints; ⁶and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective ^[d]through the ^(M)knowledge of every good thing which is in you ^[e]for the sake of Christ. ⁷For I have had great ^(N)joy and comfort in your love, because the ^[f]hearts of the ^[g]saints have been ^(O)refreshed through you, brother.

⁸Therefore, ^(P)though I have ^[h]enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^(Q)proper, ⁹yet for love’s sake I rather ^(R)appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, ^[i]an ^(S)old man, and now also ^(T)a prisoner of ^(U)Christ Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus, a Free Man

¹⁰I ^(V)appeal to you for my ^[j]^(W)son ^[k]^(X)Onesimus, whom I ^[l]fathered in my ^[m]imprisonment, ¹¹who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. ¹²I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, ¹³whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my ^[n]^(Y)imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would ^(Z)not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. ¹⁵For perhaps it was ^(AA)for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, ¹⁶^(AB)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^(AC)a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^(AD)in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷If then you regard me as a ^(AE)partner, accept him as you would me. ¹⁸But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; ¹⁹^(AF)I, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it (^(AG)not to ^[o]mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). ²⁰Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; ^(AH)refresh my heart in Christ.

²¹^(AI)Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

²²At the same time also prepare me a ^(AJ)guest room, for ^(AK)I hope that through ^(AL)your prayers ^(AM)I will be given to you.

²³^(AN)Epaphras, my ^(AO)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴as do ^(AP)Mark, ^(AQ)Aristarchus, ^(AR)Demas, and ^(AS)Luke, my ^(AT)fellow workers.