| 2. | and Ap'phia our sister and Archip'pus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: |
| 3. | Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 4. | I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, |
| 5. | because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints, |
| 6. | and I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ. |
| 7. | For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. |
| 8. | Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, |
| 9. | yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you -- I, Paul, an ambassador and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus -- |
| 10. | I appeal to you for my child, Ones'imus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment. |
| 11. | (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) |
| 12. | I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. |
| 13. | I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel; |
| 14. | but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will. |
| 15. | Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, |
| 16. | no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. |
| 17. | So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. |
| 18. | If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. |
| 19. | I, Paul, write this with my own hand, I will repay it -- to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. |
| 20. | Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. |
| 21. | Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. |
| 22. | At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you. |
| 23. | Ep'aphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, |
| 24. | and so do Mark, Aristar'chus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. |
| 25. | The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. |
