¹⁵ Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father^(A) through the gospel.^(B)

¹⁹ My dear children,^(A) for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,^(B)

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me,^(A) I laid a foundation^(B) as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.

²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.^(A)

²³ For you have been born again,^(A) not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,^(B) through the living and enduring word of God.^(C)

¹⁸ He chose to give us birth^(A) through the word of truth,^(B) that we might be a kind of firstfruits^(C) of all he created.

¹⁹ I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand.^(A) I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self.

¹⁰ that I appeal to you for my son^(A) Onesimus,^[a](B) who became my son while I was in chains.^{(C) 11} Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

¹² I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.

⁴ To Titus,^(A) my true son^(B) in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.^(C)