⁸So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper, ⁹I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well. ¹⁰I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains. ¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. ¹²I am sending back to you him who is my very heart. ¹³I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will. ¹⁵For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good — ¹⁶no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother. He is especially beloved to me, but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord. ¹⁷So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it— not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. ²²In the meantime, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.