1
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,a and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia our {sister},b and to 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 always thank my God when I mention you in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith, which you have {towards}c the Lord Jesus and towards all the saints, 6 so that the fellowship of your faith may become effective in the knowledge of every good thing that is in {you}d for Christ [[Jesus]].e
7 For {I have had}f great joy and encouragement in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
8 Therefore, having great boldness in Christ to command you what is proper, 9 I appeal more out of love, being such as Paul, an elder, but now also a prisoner of {Christ Jesus};g 10 I appeal to you for my child, whom I have begottenh while in {these}i chains, Onesimus, 11 who once was useless to you, but now is [also]j useful to you and to me, 12 {whom I have sent to you},k that is, my own heart; 13 I would have liked to keep him with me, so that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would not be, as it were, by compulsion, but of your own free will.
15 For perhaps this is why he was separated for a while, so that you might have him back 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 consider me a partner, receive 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 I, Paul, have written with my own hand, I will repay it; not to mention to you that you owe me even yourself. 20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in {Christ}.l
21 Trusting in your obedience, I wrote to you, knowing that you will do even more than what I say.
22 But at the same time, also prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25 The grace of {the}m Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. [Amen]n
[[To Philemon, written from Rome by Onesimus, a servant.]]o