Philemon 12-16

English Standard Version

¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. ¹³ I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me ^(A)on your behalf ^(B)during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be ^(C)by compulsion but of your own accord. ¹⁵ For this perhaps is why ^(D)he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ^16 (E)no longer as a bondservant^[a] but more than a bondservant, as ^(F)a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, ^(G)both in the flesh and in the Lord.