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¹ From[fn] Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend[fn] and fellow worker,[xr] ² to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.[xr] ³ May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be yours![fn][xr] ⁴ I always thank my God when I mention you[fn] in my prayers,[xr] ⁵ because I keep hearing about your love and the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints.[xr] ⁶ I pray[fn] that the sharing of your faith may become effective as you fully acknowledge every blessing that is ours[fn] in Christ.[xr] ⁷ For I have received considerable joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed, brother, through you.[xr]

⁸ For this reason, although in Christ I have complete freedom to order you to do what is proper,[xr] ⁹ I prefer to make my appeal on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an old man and now a prisoner of Christ Jesus,[xr] ¹⁰ appeal to you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.[xr] ¹¹ Once he was useless to you, but now he is very useful[fn] both to you and to me. ¹² I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. ¹³ I wanted to keep him with me so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel.[xr] ¹⁴ Yet I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be something forced, but voluntary.[xr] ¹⁵ Perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you could have him back forever,[xr] ¹⁶ no longer as a slave but better than a slave - as a dear brother, especially to me, but even more so to you, both as a person and as a believer.[fn][xr] ¹⁷ So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome[fn] me.[xr] ¹⁸ If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. ¹⁹ I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. (I will not mention to you that you owe me your very life.) ²⁰ Yes, brother, I desire this favor from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ![xr] ²¹ Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you because I know that you will do even more than I ask.[xr] ²² Meanwhile, prepare a guest room for me, too, for I am hoping through your prayers to be returned to you.[xr] ²³ Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you[fn] greetings,[xr] ²⁴ as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.[xr] ²⁵ May the grace of our[fn] Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit! Amen.[fn][xr]