Philemon - Chapter 1 | New King James Version

  • 1. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,
  • 2. to the beloved {cf2super [1]} Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
  • 3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 4. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
  • 5. hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
  • 6. that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you {cf2super [2]} in Christ Jesus.
  • 7. For we have {cf2super [3]} great joy {cf2super [4]} and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
  • 8. Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,
  • 9. yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you--being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ--
  • 10. I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,
  • 11. who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.
  • 12. I am sending him back. {cf2super [5]} You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
  • 13. whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
  • 14. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.
  • 15. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
  • 16. no longer as a slave but more than a slave--a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
  • 17. If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
  • 18. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.
  • 19. I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay--not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.
  • 20. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
  • 21. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
  • 22. But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
  • 23. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
  • 24. as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
  • 25. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
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