10 I appeal to you on behalf of my son Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment,
11 who in the past was unprofitable to you, but now he is profitable to you and to me.
12 I have sent him back. Therefore receive him as my own heart.
13 I wanted to keep him with me, so that in your place he might serve me during my imprisonment for the gospel.
14 But without your consent I would do nothing, so that your goodness would not be forced, but given willingly.
15 Perhaps this was why he departed for a while, that you might receive him forever,
16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.