Revised Standard Version
(RSV)
Philemon
Philemon 1
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and Ap'phia our sister and Archip'pus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,
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because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints,
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and I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ.
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For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
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Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required,
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yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you -- I, Paul, an ambassador and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus --
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I appeal to you for my child, Ones'imus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment.
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(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)
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I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
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I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel;
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but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will.
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Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever,
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no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
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So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.
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If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
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I, Paul, write this with my own hand, I will repay it -- to say nothing of your owing me even your own self.
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Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
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Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
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At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you.
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Ep'aphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you,
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and so do Mark, Aristar'chus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.