Philemon 8-17

New American Standard Bible

⁸ Therefore, ^(A)though I have ^[a]enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^(B)proper, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I rather ^(C)appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, ^[b]an ^(D)old man, and now also ^(E)a prisoner of ^(F)Christ Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus, a Free Man

¹⁰ I ^(G)appeal to you for my ^(H)[c]son ^[d](I)Onesimus, whom I ^[e]fathered in my ^[f]imprisonment, ¹¹ who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. ¹² I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, ¹³ whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my ^[g](J)imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴ but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would ^(K)not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. ¹⁵ For perhaps it was ^(L)for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, ^16 (M)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^(N)a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^(O)in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ If then you regard me as a ^(P)partner, accept him as you would me.