Knox Bible

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Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, who is their brother, to the well beloved Philemon, who shares our labours,

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and to all the church that is in his household, to our dear sister Appia, Archippus, who fights the same battle with ourselves, and the rest;

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Grace and peace be yours from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

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I give thanks to my God at all times, remembering thee in my prayers;

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such accounts I hear of the love and faith thou shewest towards the Lord Jesus and towards all the saints.

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May thy generosity in the faith be made known, when all your good actions are recognized in Christ Jesus.✻

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It has been a happiness and a comfort to me to hear of thy charity, brother, and of the refreshment thou hast brought to the hearts of the saints.

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And now, though I might well make bold in Christ to prescribe a duty to thee,

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I prefer to appeal to this charity of thine. Who is it that writes to thee? Paul, an old man now, and in these days the prisoner, too, of Jesus Christ;✻

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and I am appealing to thee on behalf of Onesimus, the child of my imprisonment.

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He did thee an ill service once; now, both to thee and to myself, he can be serviceable,✻

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and I am sending him back to thee; make him welcome, for my heart goes with him.

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I would sooner have kept him here with me, to attend, as thy deputy, on a prisoner of the gospel,

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but I would do nothing without thy leave; thy generosity should be exercised freely, not from lack of choice.

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Perhaps, after all, the very purpose of thy losing him for a time was that thou mightest have him always by thee.

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Do not think of him any longer as a slave; he is something more than a slave, a well loved brother, to me in a special way; much more, then, to thee, now that both nature and Christ make him thy own.

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As thou dost value thy fellowship with me, make him welcome as thou wouldst myself;

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if he has wronged thee, or is in thy debt, make me answerable for it.

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Here is a message in Paul’s own hand; I will make it good. Not to remind thee that thou owest me a debt already, thy own self.

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And now, brother, let me claim thy services; give comfort in the Lord to my anxious heart.

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I write to thee counting on thy obedience, well assured that thou wilt do even more than I ask.

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Be prepared, meanwhile, to entertain me; I hope, through your prayers, to be restored to you.

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Greetings to you from Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus;

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from Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, who share my labours.

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The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.