aver. 9; See Eph. 3:1
bSee 1 Thess. 3:2
cCol. 4:17
dPhil. 2:25
eSee Rom. 16:5
fSee Rom. 1:7
gSee Rom. 1:8, 9
hCol. 1:4
iEph. 1:15
jPhil. 1:9; Col. 1:9
l[2 Cor. 7:4, 13; Col. 4:11]
mver. 20; 2 Tim. 1:16; [Rom. 15:32; 2 Cor. 7:13]
n[1 Thess. 2:6]
oEph. 5:4
pver. 1
qSee 3 John 4
rCol. 4:9
tver. 13; 1 Cor. 4:15; [Gal. 4:19]
uSee 1 Cor. 16:17
vver. 10; See Phil. 1:7
w[2 Cor. 9:7; 1 Pet. 5:2]
x[Gen. 45:5, 8]
ySee 1 Cor. 7:22
aaMatt. 23:8; Col. 4:9; 1 Tim. 6:2
abCol. 3:22, 23; [Eph. 6:5]
ac2 Cor. 8:23
adSee 1 Cor. 16:21
aeSee ver. 7
afSee 2 Cor. 2:3
agPhil. 1:25; 2:24
ahSee 2 Cor. 1:11
ai[Heb. 13:19]
ajSee Col. 1:7
akRom. 16:7
alSee Col. 4:10
amSee Col. 4:10
anSee Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:10, 11
aoSee Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:10, 11
apSee Gal. 6:18

Philemon

Greeting

1Paul, aa prisoner for Christ Jesus, and bTimothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2and Apphia our sister and cArchippus our dfellow soldier, and ethe church in your house:

3 fGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

4 gI thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hhear of your love and iof the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full jknowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. ▼
▼Or for Christ’s service
 7For I have derived much joy and lcomfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints mhave been refreshed through you.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

8Accordingly, nthough I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do owhat is required, 9yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now pa prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10I appeal to you for qmy child, rOnesimus, ▼
▼ Onesimus means useful (see verse 11) or beneficial (see verse 20)
 twhose father I became in my imprisonment. 11(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me uon your behalf vduring my imprisonment for the gospel, 14but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be wby compulsion but of your own accord. 15For this perhaps is why xhe was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 yno longer as a bondservant ▼
▼Or slave; twice in this verse (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
 but more than a bondservant, as aaa beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, abboth in the flesh and in the Lord.

17So if you consider me acyour partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 adI, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. aeRefresh my heart in Christ.

21 afConfident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for agI am hoping that ahthrough your prayers aiI will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

23 ajEpaphras, my akfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24and so do alMark, amAristarchus, anDemas, and aoLuke, my fellow workers.

25 apThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

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