Philemon 1
1
Greeting
1 Paul, a prisoner held in custody because of Christ Jesus, together with Timothy our brother,
To Philemon, our beloved friend and fellow worker in the gospel,
2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier in the faith, and to the church that gathers for worship in your house:
3 May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pauline Prayer
4 I express thanks to my God at all times, bringing you to remembrance whenever I pray,
5 because I continue to hear reports of the love you show and of the faith you possess toward the Lord Jesus and toward all those who belong to Him as saints.
6 I pray that the partnership and fellowship that comes from your faith may become powerful and effective as you come to fully recognize every good thing that is present within us for the sake of Christ.
7 For I have experienced great joy and received much encouragement from your love, because the hearts of God’s people have been given rest and refreshment through your ministry, my brother.
Paul’s Plea for Onesimus
8 For this reason, although I possess great freedom and boldness in Christ to command you to do what is fitting and appropriate,
9 yet because of love I would rather make an appeal to you—I, Paul, who am such a person as an old man, and now in addition am a prisoner held in custody for Christ Jesus.
10 I am making this appeal to you concerning my spiritual child, who became my son during the time of my imprisonment, namely Onesimus,
11 who in former times was useless and unprofitable to you but now has become useful and profitable both to you and to me.
12 I am sending him back to you in person—that is, I am sending back to you the one who is my very heart and affection.
13 I would have preferred to keep him here with me, so that in your place he might render service to me during my imprisonment for the sake of the gospel.
14 But I chose not to take any action without first obtaining your consent and agreement, so that the good deed you do would not result from compulsion or obligation but would flow from your own voluntary willingness.
15 For perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a short time was so that you might have him back permanently and forever,
16 no longer in the status and relationship of a slave, but as something far better than a slave—as a beloved brother, especially dear to me; but how much more valuable to you, both in the natural human relationship and in your relationship in the Lord.
17 So if you regard me as your partner and companion in the faith, welcome and receive him in the same way you would welcome and receive me.
18 But if he has caused you any harm or injury in any way or if he owes you anything, put that on my account and charge it to me.
19 I, Paul, am writing this promise with my own hand: I will repay it in full—not even mentioning to you that you are indebted to me for your very own self and life.
20 Yes indeed, my brother, let me receive some benefit and advantage from you in the Lord; give refreshment to my heart in Christ.
21 Having full confidence in your obedience to what is right, I am writing to you, knowing with certainty that you will do even more than what I am suggesting and requesting.
22 And at the same time, prepare a place of lodging for me as a guest, for I am hopeful that through the prayers you offer I will be graciously granted to you and restored to your presence.
Final Greetings
23 Epaphras, who is a fellow prisoner with me in Christ Jesus, sends his greetings to you,
24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, who are my fellow workers in the ministry.
25 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be present with your spirit.
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Philemon 1: AFINTEXP
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).