Philemon
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and (B)Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and 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, 5 because I (H)hear of your love and (I)of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and 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] 7 For 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
8 Accordingly, (M)though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do (N)what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now (O)a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I 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.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I 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, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be (U)by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For 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.
17 So if you consider me (Z)your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If 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. 20 Yes, 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. 22 At 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, 24 and 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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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
Philemon
Common English Bible
Greeting
1 From Paul, who is a prisoner for the cause of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy.
To Philemon our dearly loved coworker, 2 Apphia our sister, Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church that meets in your house.
3 May the grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Paul’s prayer for Philemon
4 Philemon, I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers 5 because I’ve heard of your love and faithfulness, which you have both for the Lord Jesus and for all God’s people. 6 I pray that your partnership in the faith might become effective by an understanding of all that is good among us in Christ. 7 I have great joy and encouragement because of your love, since the hearts of God’s people are refreshed by your actions, my brother.
Paul’s appeal for Onesimus
8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to command you to do the right thing, 9 I would rather appeal to you through love. I, Paul—an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus— 10 appeal to you for my child Onesimus. I became his father in the faith during my time in prison. 11 He was useless to you before, but now he is useful to both of us. 12 I’m sending him back to you, which is like sending you my own heart. 13 I considered keeping him with me so that he might serve me in your place during my time in prison because of the gospel. 14 However, I didn’t want to do anything without your consent so that your act of kindness would occur willingly and not under pressure. 15 Maybe this is the reason that Onesimus was separated from you for a while so that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—that is, as a dearly loved brother. He is especially a dearly loved brother to me. How much more can he become a brother to you, personally and spiritually in the Lord!
17 So, if you really consider me a partner, welcome Onesimus as if you were welcoming me. 18 If he has harmed you in any way or owes you money, charge it to my account. 19 I, Paul, will pay it back to you (I’m writing this with my own hand). Of course, I won’t mention that you owe me your life.
20 Yes, brother, I want this favor from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 I’m writing to you, confident of your obedience and knowing that you will do more than what I ask. 22 Also, one more thing—prepare a guest room for me. I hope that I will be released from prison to be with you because of your prayers.
Final greeting
23 Epaphras, who is in prison with me for the cause of Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as well as my coworkers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke.
25 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Read full chapterThe Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible