Ὀφελλίῳ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀγαπητοῖς ἀδελφοῖς Πᾶυλος καὶ Ταπιὰμ ἐν κ(υρί)ῳ χαίρειν.
προηγουμένως εὐχόμεθα νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ὑγιαίνουσι ὑμῖν ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι τὰ παρ’ ἡμῶν γράμματα ἀποδοθῆναι, ἔπειτα καὶ νῦν ὑπομνῆσαι ὑμῶν τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ὅπως ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς ὑμῶν μνημονεύσηται.
ὀνομάσαι ἡμᾶς διὰ τὴν ξενειτίαν ἡμῶν καὶ των παιδιων ἡμῶν.
ἐγὼ γὰρ ἡ Ταπιὰμ’ ἐνόσησα καὶ ἔτι ἀνάκειμαι. παρακαλοῦμεν οὖν, εὔξασθαι ὑπὲρ τῆς ὁλοκληρίας ἡμῶν· καὶ γὰρ πρὸ τούτου τὰ παιδία ἡμῶν ἐνόσησαν καὶ διὰ τὰς εὐχὰς ὑμῶν ἐπαύσαντο. πιστεύομεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ κύριος ὑμῶν δικαίων ὄντων ἀκούσεται.
καὶ ἡμεῖς γὰρ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἑαυτῶ(ν) τὸ τέλος σχεῖν εὐχόμεθα καὶ ἔγ’γιστα τῶν ἰδίων ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς ταλαιπωρίας τοῦ κόσμου θέλομεν, εἴπερ καταξιοῖ ἡμᾶς ὁ δεσπότης σωθῆναι ἐν τῇ ξενειτίᾳ ἡμῶ(ν).
σὺ δέ, κύριε ἄδελφε Νεφερώ, ὀλείγα ἡμῖν ψωμία ἀπὸ τοῦ σίτου τοῦ χρεωστεῖ Παπνοῦθις ποίησον καὶ ἀπόστειλον ἡμῖ(ν) ἵνα εὕρω μετὰ τῶν παιδίων μου· θέλω γὰρ σὺν θεῷ ἀνελθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ ἔχειν.
ἀσπαζόμεθα τοὺς ἀγαπητοὺς ἀδελφοὺς πάντας κατʼ ὄνομα καὶ τὰς παρθένους τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν Ὡρίωνα καὶ τὴν μητέρα Τιενὸρ’ καὶ Πῖναν καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν πάντας κατʼ ὄνομα, ἐρρωμένους ὑμᾶς διὰ παντὸς ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι ἡ θεία πρόνοια φυλάττοι.
None extracted.
To Ophellius and the other beloved brothers, Paul and Tapiam, greetings in the Lord.
We pray beforehand, night and day, that the letters from us may be delivered to you, and now also to remind you of your kindness, that you may be remembered in your prayers.
To name us because of our exile and our children.
For I, Tapiam, have been ill and am still bedridden. Therefore, we urge you to pray for our complete recovery; for before this, our children were ill and through your prayers they were healed. For we believe that the Lord, being righteous, will listen to you.
And we also pray that in our house we may have the end of our troubles and that we may be freed from the distress of the world, if the Master deems us worthy to be saved in our exile.
But you, dear brother Nepherus, send us a little bread from the wheat that is owed to Papnuthis, so that I may find it with my children; for I wish to go up to you with God and to have it in the ship.
We greet all the beloved brothers by name and the virgins of God and our father Horion and our mother Tienor and Pina and all the other brothers of ours by name, wishing you all health in soul and body; may divine providence protect you.