Philemon
Paulus, a prisoner of Anointed Yeshua. And Timotheos, the brother.
To Philemon, the beloved and our fellow worker. And to Apphia the beloved, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the assembly of your household.
Grace to you, and peace, from God our father and the lord Yeshua the Anointed.
I give thanks to my god, always making remembrance of you in my prayers, hearing of your love, and the faith which you have towards the lord Yeshua, and to all the holy, so that the partnershipa of your faith may come to be active, in recognition of every good thing among us, regarding Anointed Yeshua.
For we have much thankfulness and comfort from your love, because the heartsb of the holy have been relieved through you brother. That is why I have much boldness in the Anointed to command you about what is proper. But rather, I entreat you through love, being such a one as Paulus, an old man, and now also a prisoner of Yeshua the Anointed. I entreat you about my child, whom I fathered in my bonds, Onesimusc, who used to be useless to you, but is now useful to both you and me, and whom I am sending up to you. He who is my own heartb, whom I intended to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might serve me in those bonds of the good news.
But I wanted to do nothing without knowing your intention, so that your good work wouldn’t be forced, but might be voluntary. For perhaps he was separated from you for an hour because of this, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, and how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the lord.
If you regard me as a partner then, accept him as you accept me. And if he did some wrong to you, or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paulus, write with my own hand. I will pay it back, (not to mention to you that you also owe me your very self). Yes brother, may I benefit from you in the lord. Relieve my heartb in the Anointed.
Having confidence in your obedience I have written to you, knowing that you will do over and above what I say. And at the same time, prepare a lodging for me, for I expect that through your prayers I will be granted to you.
Epaphras my fellow prisoner in the Anointed greets you. As do Markos, Aristachus, Demas, and Loukas my fellow workers. The grace of our lord Yeshua the Anointed is with your spirit.
Amend.
a) partnership in Greek has the idea of sharing everything in common
b) Greeks considered your inner feelings to be located in your innards, while in modern English we consider them to be in your heart.
c) Onesimus is a Greek name meaning "useful"
d) amen is a Hebrew word meaning "truly"
