10 I beg you for my child Onesimus—for whom I became a spiritual father while in chains.
11 He once was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and me.
12 I sent him back to you—he is my very heart.
13 I really wanted to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he might serve me while I am in chains for the Good News.
14 But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness wouldn’t be by force but by free will.
15 For perhaps he was separated from you for a while in order that you might have him back forever,
16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—as a beloved brother, especially to me but even more so to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.