Philemon 1:12-16 ▼

12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart,

13 whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my imprisonment for the gospel;

14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will.

15 For perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever,

16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.