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Philemon · Unlocked Literal Bible

Philemon 1 Unlocked Literal Bible

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About ULB
  • Protestant
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • NT: Critical text (not verified)
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 2017
  • CC BY-SA 4.0

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and the brother Timothy to Philemon, our dear friend and fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home. 3 May grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God. I mention you in my prayers. 5 I have heard of the love and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus and for all the believers. 6 I pray that the fellowship of your faith may be effective for the knowledge of everything good that is among us in Christ. 7 For I have had much joy and comfort because of your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. 8 Therefore, although I have all the boldness in Christ to command you to do what you should do, 9 yet because of love, I appeal to you instead—I, Paul, an old man, and now a prisoner for Christ Jesus. 10 I am asking you concerning my child Onesimus, whom I have fathered in my chains. 11 For he once was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you, he who is my very heart. 13 I wish I could have kept him with me, so he could serve me for you, while I am in chains for the sake of the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent. I did not want your good deed to be from necessity but from good will. 15 Perhaps for this he was separated from you for a time, so that you might have him back forever. 16 No longer would he be a slave, but better than a slave, a beloved brother. He is beloved especially to me, and much more so to you, in both the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you have me as a partner, receive him as me. 18 If he has wronged you or owes you anything, charge that to me. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I myself will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your own self! 20 Yes, brother, do me a favor in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident about your obedience, I am writing to you. I know that you will do even more than I ask. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given back to you. 23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you. 24 So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Apphia

    Sister addressed with Philemon

    Addressed by Paul together with Philemon and Archippus in the letter to Philemon.

    Cited in the guide: Philemon 2

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  • Archippus

    Fellow soldier of Paul

    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

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  • Demas

    Coworker of Paul

    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

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  • Epaphras

    Founder of the Colossian church

    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

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  • Luke

    Beloved physician and coworker of Paul

    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

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  • Onesimus

    Runaway slave of Philemon

    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

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  • Philemon

    Beloved coworker of Paul

    The believer to whom Paul wrote on behalf of Onesimus; a church met in his house.

    Cited in the guide: Philemon 1

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Cross references (25)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Philippians 2:25; Ephesians 3:1; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 9; 1 Corinthians 3:9
  2. 2 Philippians 2:25; Colossians 4:17; Romans 16:5; Colossians 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:3–4
  3. 3 Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14
  4. 4 Romans 1:8; Ephesians 1:16; Colossians 1:3; Philippians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:3
  5. 5 Colossians 1:4; Ephesians 1:15; Psalm 16:3; 1 John 5:1–2; 1 Corinthians 16:1
  6. 6 2 Peter 1:8; Philippians 1:9–11; Colossians 1:9; 1 Peter 1:5–8; Matthew 5:16
  7. 7 2 Corinthians 7:13; 2 Corinthians 7:4; 1 Thessalonians 3:9; 3 John 3–6; 1 Thessalonians 2:19
  8. 8 1 Thessalonians 2:6; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 2 Corinthians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 10:1–2; 1 Thessalonians 2:2
  9. 9 2 Corinthians 5:20; Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1; Ephesians 3:1; Philemon 1–25
  10. 10 Colossians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 4:15; Galatians 4:19; 1 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4
  11. 11 2 Timothy 4:11; Job 30:1–2; 1 Peter 2:10; Luke 15:32; Romans 3:12
  12. 12 Matthew 6:14–15; Ephesians 4:32; Luke 15:20; Mark 11:25; Jeremiah 31:20
  13. 13 Ephesians 3:1; Philippians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 16:17; Philippians 2:30; Philemon 1
  14. 14 2 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Peter 5:2–3; 1 Chronicles 29:17; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 8:12
  15. 15 Genesis 50:20; Genesis 45:5–8; Isaiah 20:6; Acts 4:28
  16. 16 Colossians 3:22; Matthew 23:8; 1 Timothy 6:2; 1 Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 6:5–7
  17. 17 2 Corinthians 8:23; Matthew 10:40; Philemon 12; Matthew 18:5; Ephesians 3:6
  18. 18 Isaiah 53:4–7
  19. 19 Galatians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 16:21–22; Galatians 5:2; James 5:19–20; 1 Corinthians 4:15
  20. 20 Philemon 7; 3 John 4; Hebrews 13:17; Philemon 12; 1 Thessalonians 3:7–9
  21. 21 2 Thessalonians 3:4; 2 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 7:16; Galatians 5:10; 2 Corinthians 8:22
  22. 22 2 Corinthians 1:11; Philippians 2:24; 2 John 12; Acts 28:23; Philippians 1:19
  23. 23 Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12; Romans 16:7; Colossians 4:10
  24. 24 Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:10–11; Colossians 4:14; Acts 12:12; Acts 15:37–39
  25. 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

Articles and answers on this site that cite Philemon.

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).

  1. Commentary 1 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philemon (Homily I)

    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)