NET Bible
"who was formerly useless to you, but is now useful to you and me."
— Philemon 1:11, NET Bible
“Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:”
“who once was unprofitable to thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me: ”
“who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me.”
“Who hath been heretofore unprofitable to thee but now is profitable both to me and thee:”
“Who in the past was of no profit to you, but now is of profit to you and to me:”
“Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:”
Paul’s Request for Onesimus So, although I have quite a lot of confidence in Christ and could command you to do what is proper,
I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love– I, Paul, an old man and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus–
I am appealing to you concerning my child, whose spiritual father I have become during my imprisonment, that is, Onesimus,
who was formerly useless to you, but is now useful to you and me.
I have sent him(who is my very heart) back to you.
I wanted to keep him with me so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the sake of the gospel.
However, without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your good deed would not be out of compulsion, but from your own willingness.