Philemon 1
Greeting
Paul, aa prisoner for Christ Jesus, and bTimothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and aArchippus our bfellow soldier, and cthe church in your house:
3 aGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon’s Love and Faith
4 aI thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I ahear of your love and bof the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full aknowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have derived much joy and acomfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints bhave been refreshed through you.
Paul’s Plea for Onesimus
8 Accordingly, athough I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do bwhat is required, 9 yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now aa prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for amy child, bOnesimus, cwhose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me aon your behalf bduring my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be aby compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why ahe was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 ano longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as ba beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, cboth in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me ayour partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 aI, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. aRefresh my heart in Christ.
21 aConfident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for aI am hoping that bthrough your prayers cI will be graciously given to you.
Final Greetings
23 aEpaphras, my bfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do aMark, aAristarchus, bDemas, and bLuke, my fellow workers.
25 aThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.