| 1 | Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother: To Philemon our dearly-loved fellow labourer-- |
| 2 | and to our sister Apphia and our comrade Archippus--as well as to the Church in your house. |
| 3 | May grace be granted to you all, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 4 | I give continual thanks to my God while making mention of you, my brother, in my prayers, |
| 5 | because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have towards the Lord Jesus and which you manifest towards all God's people; |
| 6 | praying as I do, that their participation in your faith may result in others fully recognizing all the right affection that is in us toward Christ. |
| 7 | For I have found great joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of God's people have been, and are, refreshed through you, my brother. |
| 8 | Therefore, though I might with Christ's authority speak very freely and order you to do what is fitting, |
| 9 | it is for love's sake that--instead of that--although I am none other than Paul the aged, and am now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus, |
| 10 | I entreat you on behalf of my own child whose father I have become while in my chains--I mean Onesimus. |
| 11 | Formerly he was useless to you, but now--true to his name--he is of great use to you and to me. |
| 12 | I am sending him back to you, though in so doing I send part of myself. |
| 13 | It was my wish to keep him at my side for him to attend to my wants, as your representative, during my imprisonment for the Good News. |
| 14 | Only I wished to do nothing without your consent, so that his kind action of yours might not be done under pressure, but might be a voluntary one. |
| 15 | For perhaps it was for this reason he was parted from you for a time, that you might receive him back wholly and for ever yours; |
| 16 | no longer as a slave, but as something better than a slave--a brother peculiarly dear to me, and even dearer to you, both as a servant and as a fellow Christian. |
| 17 | If therefore you regard me as a comrade, receive him as if he were I myself. |
| 18 | And if he was ever dishonest or is in your debt, debit me with the amount. |
| 19 | I Paul write this with my own hand--I will pay you in full. (I say nothing of the fact that you owe me even your own self.) |
| 20 | Yes, brother, do me this favour for the Lord's sake. Refresh my heart in Christ. |
| 21 | I write to you in the full confidence that you will meet my wishes, for I know you will do even more than I say. |
| 22 | And at the same time provide accommodation for me; for I hope that through your prayers I shall be permitted to come to you. |
| 23 | Greetings to you, my brother, from Epaphras my fellow prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus; |
| 24 | and from Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. |
| 25 | May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with the spirit of every one of you. |