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Summary: Philemon is structured around appeal, reconciliation, and Christian brotherhood.
Philemon Chapter 1:1-25
Greeting
1 𝑺 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker,
2 𝑺 to the beloved Apphia, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the assembly in your house:
3 𝑺 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
4 𝑺 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers,
5 𝑺 hearing of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,
6 𝑺 that the fellowship of your faith may become effective in the knowledge of every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus.
7 𝑺 For we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
V4 Effective
Paul’s Appeal for Onesimus
8 𝑺 Therefore though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate,
9 𝑺 yet for love’sake I rather appeal to you, being such a one as Paul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
10 𝑺 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have become the father of in my chains,
11 𝑺 who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me.
12 𝑺 I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
13 𝑺 whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Good News.
14 𝑺 But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will.
15 𝑺 For perhaps he was therefore separated from you for a while that you would have him forever,
16 𝑺 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much rather to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
Receive Him as a Brother
17 𝑺 If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
18 𝑺 But if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, put that to my account.
19 𝑺 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides).
20 𝑺 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord.
21 𝑺 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even beyond what I say.
Paul’s Anticipated Visit
22 𝑺 Also, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.
Final Greetings
23 𝑺 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
24 𝑺 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25 𝑺 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.