Common - Philemon - 1

1:1  Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,

1:2  and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

1:3  grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:4  I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,

1:5  because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints,

1:6  and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing that is ours in Christ.

1:7  For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

1:8  Therefore, though I am bold enough in Christ to order you to do what is proper,

1:9  yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—

1:10  I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment.

1:11  Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.

1:12  I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.

1:13  I would have been glad to keep him with me, so that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel;

1:14  but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will.

1:15  Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever,

1:16  no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

1:17  So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.

1:18  If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

1:19  I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me even your own self.

1:20  Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.

1:21  Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

1:22  At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope through your prayers to be granted to you.

1:23  Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings,

1:24  and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

1:25  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.