Philemon’s Love and Faith

^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, ² and 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.

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

⁸ Therefore, ^(P)though I have much boldness in Christ to command you to do what is ^(Q)proper, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I rather ^(R)plead with you—since I am such a person as Paul, ^[h]the ^(S)aged, and now also ^(T)a prisoner of ^(U)Christ Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus

¹⁰ I ^(V)plead with you for my ^(W)child ^[i](X)Onesimus, of whom I became a ^[j]father in my chains, ¹¹ who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. ¹² I have sent him back to you in person, that is, my very heart, ¹³ whom I intended to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my ^(Y)chains for the gospel, ¹⁴ but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would ^(Z)not be, in effect, by compulsion but voluntarily. ¹⁵ For perhaps ^(AA)he was for this reason 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.

¹⁷ If then you regard me a ^(AE)partner, accept him as you would accept me. ¹⁸ But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ^19 (AF)I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (^(AG)not to ^[k]mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). ²⁰ Yes, 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.

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

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

^25 (AU)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^(AV)with your spirit.^[l]