^aPaul, ^ba prisoner for the sake of ^cChrist Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) , and our brother ^dTimothy,

To Philemon our dearly beloved friend and ^efellow worker, 2 and to your wife Apphia ^aour sister, and to ^1bArchippus our ^cfellow soldier in ministry, and to ^dthe ²church that meets in your ³house: 3 ^aGrace to you and peace inner calm and spiritual well-being from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 ^aI thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, 5 because I ^ahear of your love and of your faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ¹saints (God’s people) . 6 I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective and powerful because of your accurate ^aknowledge of every good thing which is ours in Christ. 7 For I have had great ^ajoy and comfort and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints (God’s people) have been ^brefreshed through you, my brother.

8 Therefore on the basis of these facts, ^athough I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^bappropriate, 9 yet for love’s sake I prefer to ^aappeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, an ^bold man, and now also ^ca prisoner for the sake of ^dChrist Jesus—

10 I ^aappeal to you for my own spiritual ^bchild ^cOnesimus, whom I have fathered in the faith while a captive in these chains. 11 Once he was useless to you, but now he is indeed ¹useful to you as well as to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, like sending my very heart. 13 I would have chosen to keep him with me, so that he might minister to me on your behalf during my ^aimprisonment for the gospel; 14 but I did not want to do anything without first getting your consent, so that your goodness would ^anot be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. 15 Perhaps ^ait was for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, so that you would have him back forever, 16 ^ano longer as a slave, but as someone more than a slave, as ^ba brother in Christ, especially dear to me, but how much more to you, both ^cin the flesh as a servant and in the Lord as a fellow believer. Col 4:9

17 So if you consider me a ^apartner, welcome and 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 ^aI, Paul, write this with my ¹own hand, I will repay it in full (not to ^bmention to you that you ²owe to me even your own self as well). 20 Yes, brother, let me have some benefit and joy from you in the Lord; ^arefresh my heart in Christ.

21 I write to you perfectly ^aconfident of your obedient compliance, ¹since I know that you will do even more than I ask.

22 At the same time also prepare a guest ^aroom for me in expectation of a visit, for ^bI hope that through ^cyour prayers ^dI will be granted the gracious privilege of coming to you at Colossae.

23 Greetings to you from ^aEpaphras, my ^bfellow prisoner here in the cause of Christ Jesus, 24 and from ^aMark, ^bAristarchus, ^cDemas, and ^dLuke, my ^efellow workers.

25 ^aThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^bwith your spirit.

^aPaul, ^ba prisoner of ^cChrist Jesus, and ^dTimothy ¹our brother,

To Philemon our beloved brother and ^efellow worker, 2 and to Apphia ^1aour sister, and to ^bArchippus our ^cfellow soldier, and to ^dthe church in your house: 3 ^aGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 ^aI thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, 5 because I ^ahear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ¹saints; 6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective ¹through the ^aknowledge of every good thing which is in you ²for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have had great ^ajoy and comfort in your love, because the ¹hearts of the ²saints have been ^brefreshed through you, brother.

8 Therefore, ^athough I have ¹enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^bproper, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather ^aappeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, ¹an ^bold man, and now also ^ca prisoner of ^dChrist Jesus—

10 I ^aappeal to you for my ^1bson ^2cOnesimus, whom I ³fathered in my ⁴imprisonment, 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 ^1aimprisonment for the gospel; 14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would ^anot be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. 15 For perhaps it was ^afor this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16 ^ano longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^ba beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^cin the flesh and in the Lord.

17 If then you regard me as a ^apartner, 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 ^aI, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it ^b(not to ¹mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). 20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; ^arefresh my heart in Christ.

21 ^aHaving 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 ^aguest room, for ^bI hope that through ^cyour prayers ^dI will be given to you.

23 ^aEpaphras, my ^bfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do ^aMark, ^bAristarchus, ^cDemas, and ^dLuke, my ^efellow workers.

25 ^aThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^bwith your spirit.¹