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, 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.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

^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)knowledge of every good thing which is in you ^[e]for the sake of Christ. ⁷ For 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.

⁸ Therefore, ^(P)though I have ^[h]enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^(Q)proper, ⁹ yet 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

¹⁰ I ^(V)appeal to you for my ^(W)[j]son ^[k](X)Onesimus, whom I ^[l]fathered in my ^[m]imprisonment, ¹¹ who previously 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, sending my very heart, ¹³ whom 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; ¹⁴ but 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. ¹⁵ For 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.

¹⁷ If then you regard me as a ^(AE)partner, accept him as you would me. ¹⁸ But 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). 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 At 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, ²⁴ as do ^(AP)Mark, ^(AQ)Aristarchus, ^(AR)Demas, and ^(AS)Luke, my ^(AT)fellow workers.

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

Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[a](A)Be prepared, and keep your ^(B)lamps lit. ³⁶ You are also to be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door for him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(C)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(D)he will ^[b]prepare himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and he will come up and serve them. ^38 (E)Whether he comes in the ^[c]second watch, or even in the ^[d]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(F)But ^[e]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^(G)broken into. ^40 (H)You too, be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think He will.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this parable to us, or ^(I)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(J)the Lord said, “^(K)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(L)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(M)slave whom his ^[f]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will take a long time to come,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and will ^[g]cut him in two, and assign ^[h]him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will, will ^(N)receive many blows, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(O)know it, and committed acts deserving of ^[i]a beating, will receive only a few blows. ^(P)From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides People

⁴⁹ “I ^[j]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[k]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(Q)baptism ^[l]to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^51 (R)Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(S)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(T)Whenever you see a cloud rising ^[m]in the west, you immediately say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And whenever you feel a ^[n]south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(U)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(V)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not know how to analyze this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(W)why do you not even judge by yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(X)when you are going with your accuser to appear before the magistrate, on the way, make an effort to ^[o]settle with him, so that he does not drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid up ^[p]the very last ^[q](Y)lepton.”