Philemon 13-15

New Testament for Everyone

¹³ I would have liked to keep him here with me, so that he could have been your representative in serving me in the chains of the gospel. ¹⁴ But I didn’t want to do anything without you knowing about it. That way, when you did the splendid thing that the situation requires, it wouldn’t be under compulsion, but of your own free will.

Paul’s perspective

¹⁵ Look at it like this. Maybe this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you could have him back forever—