WPNT(i)
8 Now then, though I have all boldness in Christ to order you (sg) to do what is right,
9 I—being none other than Paul the old man and now also a prisoner for Jesus Christ—would rather appeal to you, for love’s sake.
10 I appeal to you on behalf of the son that I begot while in my chains, Onesimus, whom I am sending back
11 —formerly he was unprofitable to you, but now he is profitable, both to you and to me.
12 So receive him, who is my very heart
13 —I would have liked to keep him with me, so that he might minister to me in your place, while I’m in chains for the Gospel,
14 but I didn’t want to do anything without your consent, so that your contribution might be voluntary, not as an imposition.
15 Perhaps this is why he was removed for a while, so that you would have him forever
16 —no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, very much to me but even more to you, both in flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me a partner, receive him as if it were me.
18 If he wronged you or owes anything, charge it to me.
19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand, “I will repay” (rather than say to you that you actually owe me your very self!).
20 Yes brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.