Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy the brother, to Philemon our beloved and fellow worker

And to  ¹Apphia the sister and to  ¹Archippus our fellow soldier and to the  ²church, which is in your house:

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

I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers,

Hearing of your  ¹love and the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and to all the saints,

That the fellowship of your faith may become effective in the  ¹full knowledge of  ²every good thing which is in  ³you  ⁴for Christ.

 ¹For I had much joy and encouragement over your love, because the  ²inward parts of the saints have been  ³refreshed through you, brother.

Therefore though I have much boldness in Christ to charge you what is fitting,

Because of love I rather entreat, being such a one as Paul  ¹the aged and now also a  ²prisoner of Christ Jesus.

I entreat you concerning my child, whom I have  ¹begotten in my bonds,  ²Onesimus,

Who formerly was  ¹useless to you but now is  ²useful both to you and to me.

Him I have sent back to you — him, that is, my  ¹very heart —

Whom I intended to keep with myself that on your behalf he might minister to me in the bonds of the gospel.

But  ¹without your mind I did not want to do anything, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but voluntary.

 ¹For  ²perhaps for this reason he was separated from you for but an hour, that you might  ³fully have him forever,

 ¹No longer as a slave, but  ²above a slave, a  ³beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you,  ⁴both in the flesh and in the Lord.

If then  ¹you hold me as a  ²partner, receive him as myself.

And if he has  ¹wronged you in anything or owes anything, charge that to  ²my account.

I, Paul, have written with my own hand: I will  ¹repay; not to say to you that you owe me even  ²your own self besides.

Yes, brother, may I have  ¹profit from you in the Lord;  ²refresh my  ³inward parts in Christ.

Having confidence in your obedience, I have written to you, knowing that you will do even beyond the things that I say.

And at the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I  ¹hope that through your prayers I will be  ²graciously given to you.

 ¹Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you;

As do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.

The  ¹grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your  ²spirit.

And in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

Take a scroll book and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.

Perhaps the house of Judah will listen to all the evil which I intend to do to them so that they may turn, each one from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which He had spoken to him, on a scroll book.

And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am restrained; I cannot go to the house of Jehovah;

Therefore you shall go and read in the scroll on which you have written from my mouth the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in the house of Jehovah on the day of fasting; and you shall also read them in the ears of all Judah who come from their cities.

Perhaps their supplication will come before Jehovah, and each one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath which Jehovah has spoken against this people.

And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, to read in the book the words of Jehovah in the house of Jehovah.

And in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah for all the people in Jerusalem and for all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.

Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah in the book in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the house of Jehovah, in the ears of all the people.

When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of Jehovah from the book,

He went down to the king's house into the chamber of the scribe. And there they were, all the princes sitting there: Elishama the scribe and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah and Elnathan the son of Achbor and Gemariah the son of Shaphan and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah and all the other princes.

And Micaiah told them all the words which he had heard when Baruch read in the book in the ears of the people.

Then all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the scroll in which you read in the ears of the people and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.

And they said to him, Sit down now and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.

And when they heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, Indeed we must report all these words to the king.

And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us please, how did you write all these words? Was it from his mouth?

Then Baruch said to them, He read to me all these words from his mouth, and I wrote with ink in the book.

Then the princes said to Baruch, Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.

So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they reported all the words in the ears of the king.

Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king and in the ears of all the princes who stood by the king.

Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and the  ¹fire of the brazier was burning before him.

And as Jehudi would read three or four columns,  ¹the king would cut it with a scribe's knife and throw the pieces into the fire which was in the brazier, until the whole scroll was consumed in the fire which was in the brazier.

And the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid and did not rend their garments.

Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Jehovah hid them.

And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

Take again another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

And concerning Jehoiakim the king of Judah you shall say, Thus says Jehovah, You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written in it, saying, The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and will cause man and beast to cease from it?

Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the king of Judah, He will have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his corpse will be cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night.

And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and on the men of Judah all the evil which I have spoken against them. But they would not listen.

Then  ¹Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many more words like those were added to them.

And Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.

But he did not listen, neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land, to the words of Jehovah, which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Pray to Jehovah our God for us.

Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.

And the army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Pharaoh's army, which came out to you to help, is now returning to its own land of Egypt.

The Chaldeans will again return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.

Thus says Jehovah, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will surely go away from us; for they will not go away.

For even if you had struck down the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only wounded men remained among them, they would rise up each one in his tent and burn this city with fire.

And when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the presence of the army of Pharaoh,

Jeremiah tried to go out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion there among the people.

When he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a captain of the guard there whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are deserting to the Chaldeans!

And Jeremiah said, It is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him. And Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

And the princes were angry with Jeremiah and struck him and put him in prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made it into a prison.

When Jeremiah came to the dungeon and to the cells, Jeremiah remained there many days.

And Zedekiah the king sent and took him out; and the king questioned him in his house secretly and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. And he said, You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

And Jeremiah also said to Zedekiah the king, In what have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?

And now hear, O my lord the king; let my supplication come before you, and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

So Zedekiah the king commanded, and they placed Jeremiah in the court of the guard, and gave him a loaf of bread daily from the bakers' street, until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

And Shephatiah the son of Mattan and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur and Jucal the son of Shelemiah and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,

Thus says Jehovah, He who remains in this city will die by sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as spoil and live.

Thus says Jehovah, This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

Then the princes said to the king, Now let this man be put to death, because of the way he is weakening the hands of the men of war who are left in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.

Then King Zedekiah said, He is now in your hand, for the king can do nothing against you.

So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the  ¹pit of Malchijah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the pit there was no water but only mire, and Jeremiah sank into the mire.

When Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch, heard, while he was in the king's house, that they had put Jeremiah into the pit (now the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin),

Ebed-melech went out from the king's house and spoke to the king, saying,

O my lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit; and he will die in the place where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, Take from here thirty men with you, and bring Jeremiah the prophet up out of the pit before he dies.

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the king's house under the treasury and took old rags and worn-out garments from there, and let them down with ropes into the pit to Jeremiah.

And Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, Put the old rags and garments under your armpits below the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

So they drew Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the pit, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard.

Then King Zedekiah sent men and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance which is in the house of Jehovah; and the king said to Jeremiah, I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.

And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I tell you, indeed will you not put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.

Then King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah secretly, saying, As Jehovah lives, who made these lives of ours, I will not put you to death or give you into the hand of those who seek your life.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus says Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If you will indeed surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, you will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your house will live.

But if you do not surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape out of their hand.

Then Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, that they will give me into their hand and they will abuse me.

And Jeremiah said, They will not give you up. Listen now to the voice of Jehovah in what I am speaking to you, and it will be well with you, and your soul will live.

But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that Jehovah has shown me:

Then all the women who have been left in the house of the king of Judah will be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon, and the women will say concerning the king,
Your familiar friends
Have deceived you and prevailed over you;
While your feet sank in the mire,
They turned away from you.

And they will lead out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and you will cause this city to be burned with fire.

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no one know of these words, and you will not die.

But if the princes hear that I have spoken with you and they come to you and say to you, Tell us now what you said to the king; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; now what did the king say to you?

Then you shall say to them, I made my supplication before the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.

Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words which the king commanded. So they ceased to speak with him, for the matter had not been heard.

So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.