Philemon 12-16

International Standard Version

¹² As I send him back, it’s like I’m coming along with him.^{[a] 13} I wanted to keep him with me so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel. ¹⁴ Yet I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your good deed might not be something forced, but voluntary. ¹⁵ Perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you could have him back forever, ¹⁶ no longer as a slave but better than a slave—as a dear brother, especially to me, but even more so to you, both as a person and as a believer.^[b]