Psalm 116; Philemon

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Psalm 116

I Love the Lord

I ylove the Lord, because he has zheard

my voice and my pleas for mercy.

Because he ainclined his ear to me,

therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

bThe snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish.

Then cI called on the name of the Lord:

O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!

dGracious is the Lord, and erighteous;

our God is fmerciful.

The Lord preserves gthe simple;

when hI was brought low, he saved me.

Return, O my soul, to your irest;

for the Lord has jdealt bountifully with you.

For kyou have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling;

I will walk before the Lord

lin the land of the living.

10  mI believed, neven when1 I spoke:

I am greatly afflicted;

11  oI said in my alarm,

pAll mankind are liars.

12  What shall I qrender to the Lord

for all his benefits to me?

13  I will lift up rthe cup of salvation

and scall on the name of the Lord,

14  I will tpay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people.

15  uPrecious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his vsaints.

16  O Lord, I am your wservant;

I am your servant, xthe son of your maidservant.

You have yloosed my bonds.

17  I will zoffer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving

and scall on the name of the Lord.

18  I will tpay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people,

19  in athe courts of the house of the Lord,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

bPraise the Lord!


Philemon

Greeting

Paul, aa prisoner for Christ Jesus, and bTimothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and cArchippus our dfellow soldier, and ethe church in your house:

fGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

gI thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hhear of your love and iof the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full jknowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.1 For I have derived much joy and kcomfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints lhave been refreshed through you.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

Accordingly, mthough I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do nwhat is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to youI, Paul, an old man and now oa prisoner also for Christ Jesus 10 I appeal to you for pmy child, qOnesimus,2 rwhose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me son your behalf tduring my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be uby compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why vhe was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 wno longer as a bondservant3 but more than a bondservant, as xa beloved brotherespecially to me, but how much more to you, yboth in the flesh and in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me zyour partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 aI, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay itto say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. bRefresh my heart in Christ.

21 cConfident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for dI am hoping that ethrough your prayers fI will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

23 gEpaphras, my hfellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do iMark, iAristarchus, jDemas, and jLuke, my fellow workers.

25 kThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.