1 Pablo, prisionero de Cristo Jesús, y el hermano Timoteo, al amado Filemón, colaborador nuestro, 2 a la hermana Apia, a Arquipo, nuestro compañero de milicia, y a la iglesia que está en tu casa. 3 Gracia a ustedes y paz de Dios nuestro Padre, y del Señor Jesucristo. 4 Doy gracias a mi Dios siempre que me acuerdo de ti en mis conversaciones con Dios, 5 pues escucho de tu amor y de la fe que tienes hacia el Señor Jesús y para todos los santos. 6 [Ruego] que, por medio del conocimiento de todo lo bueno de ustedes en Cristo, la participación de tu fe sea eficaz. 7 Porque tuvimos mucho gozo y consolación en tu amor, pues por medio de ti, hermano, fueron refrescados los corazones de los santos. 8 Por tanto, aunque tengo mucho atrevimiento en Cristo para mandarte lo que es apropiado, 9 más bien por causa de mi amor [hacia ti, ]te exhorto, por ser como soy, Pablo, ya anciano, y ahora también prisionero de Cristo Jesús, 10 te ruego por mi hijo Onésimo, a quien engendré en las prisiones. 11 En otro tiempo él te fue inútil, pero ahora nos es útil a ti y a mí. 12 Te lo envío de regreso, a él, es decir, al objeto de mi afecto. 13 Yo quería retenerlo conmigo, a fin de que me sirviera por ti en las prisiones de las Buenas Noticias. 14 Pero nada quise hacer sin tu consentimiento, para que tu bien no sea como por medio de presión, sino de libre voluntad. 15 Porque probablemente por esto se apartó de ti por un tiempo, a fin de que lo recibas para siempre, 16 ya no como un esclavo, sino más que un esclavo: como hermano amado, especialmente para mí, y cuánto más para ti, tanto en [el ]cuerpo como en [el] Señor. 17 Así que, si me consideras un compañero, recíbelo como a mí. 18 Si te perjudicó en algo o te debe, cárgalo a mi cuenta. 19 Yo, Pablo, escribí con mi mano: ¡Yo pagaré! Para no decirte que aun tú mismo te debes a mí. 20 Sí, hermano, que yo me beneficie de ti en [el] Señor. Conforta mi corazón en Cristo. 21 Te escribí confiado en tu obediencia, cuando entendí que aun harás más de lo que digo. 22 Al mismo tiempo, prepárame alojamiento, porque espero que seré libertado por medio de las conversaciones de ustedes con Dios. 23 Te saludan Epafras, mi compañero de prisión por Cristo Jesús, 24 Marcos, Aristarco, Demas y Lucas, mis colaboradores. 25 La gracia del Señor Jesucristo sea con tu espíritu.
Philemon · God's Word for You (Latin American Textual Bible)
Philemon 1 God's Word for You (Latin American Textual Bible)
Audio: Reina-Valera Antigua (RVA), read by Joyfull · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Apphia
Addressed by Paul together with Philemon and Archippus in the letter to Philemon.
Cited in the guide: Philemon 2
Archippus
Called by Paul his fellow soldier and told to complete the ministry he received in the Lord.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:17; Philemon 2
Demas
A coworker of Paul who sends greetings from Rome, but later deserted him because he loved the present world.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:10; Philemon 24
Epaphras
A faithful minister of Christ who taught the Colossians, wrestled for them in prayer, and was Paul's fellow prisoner.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12; Philemon 23
Luke
Paul's beloved physician and coworker who stayed with him when others had left him in his final imprisonment.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24
Onesimus
A slave who became a believer through Paul in prison and whom Paul sent back to Philemon as a beloved brother.
Cited in the guide: Colossians 4:9; Philemon 10
Philemon
The believer to whom Paul wrote on behalf of Onesimus; a church met in his house.
Cited in the guide: Philemon 1
Cross references (25)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Philippians 2:25; Ephesians 3:1; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 9; 1 Corinthians 3:9
- 2 Philippians 2:25; Colossians 4:17; Romans 16:5; Colossians 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:3–4
- 3 Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14
- 4 Romans 1:8; Ephesians 1:16; Colossians 1:3; Philippians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3
- 5 Colossians 1:4; Ephesians 1:15; Psalm 16:3; 1 John 5:1–2; 1 Corinthians 16:1
- 6 2 Peter 1:8; Philippians 1:9–11; Colossians 1:9; 1 Peter 1:5–8; Matthew 5:16
- 7 2 Corinthians 7:13; 2 Corinthians 7:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:9; 3 John 3–6; 1 Thessalonians 2:19
- 8 1 Thessalonians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 10:1–2; 1 Thessalonians 2:2
- 9 2 Corinthians 5:20; Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1; Ephesians 3:1; Philemon 1–25
- 10 Colossians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 4:15; Galatians 4:19; 1 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4
- 11 2 Timothy 4:11; Job 30:1–2; 1 Peter 2:10; Luke 15:32; Romans 3:12
- 12 Matthew 6:14–15; Ephesians 4:32; Luke 15:20; Mark 11:25; Jeremiah 31:20
- 13 Ephesians 3:1; Philippians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 16:17; Philippians 2:30; Philemon 1
- 14 2 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Peter 5:2–3; 1 Chronicles 29:17; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 8:12
- 15 Genesis 50:20; Genesis 45:5–8; Isaiah 20:6; Acts 4:28
- 16 Colossians 3:22; Matthew 23:8; 1 Timothy 6:2; 1 Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 6:5–7
- 17 2 Corinthians 8:23; Matthew 10:40; Philemon 12; Matthew 18:5; Ephesians 3:6
- 18 Isaiah 53:4–7
- 19 Galatians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 16:21–22; Galatians 5:2; James 5:19–20; 1 Corinthians 4:15
- 20 Philemon 7; 3 John 4; Hebrews 13:17; Philemon 12; 1 Thessalonians 3:7–9
- 21 2 Thessalonians 3:4; 2 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 7:16; Galatians 5:10; 2 Corinthians 8:22
- 22 2 Corinthians 1:11; Philippians 2:24; 2 John 12; Acts 28:23; Philippians 1:19
- 23 Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12; Romans 16:7; Colossians 4:10
- 24 Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:10–11; Colossians 4:14; Acts 12:12; Acts 15:37–39
- 25 2 Timothy 4:22; Galatians 6:18; Romans 16:20; Romans 16:23
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
These things are said to a master in behalf of a servant. Immediately at the outset, he has pulled down his spirit, and not suffered him to be ashamed, he has quenched his anger; calling himself a prisoner, he strikes him with compunction, and makes him collect himself, and makes it appear that present things are nothing.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 13 (1889)