14 But without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were of [a]necessity, but willingly.

15 It may be that he therefore [b]departed for [c]a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever,

16 Not now as a servant, but above a servant, even as a brother beloved, specially to me: how much more then unto thee, both in the [d]flesh and in the Lord?

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Footnotes

  1. Philemon 1:14 That thou mightest not seem to have lent me thy servant upon constraint, but willingly.
  2. Philemon 1:15 Thus he assuageth the harder kind of speech, which is to say, he ran away.
  3. Philemon 1:15 For a little time.
  4. Philemon 1:16 Because he is thy servant, as other servants are, and because he is the Lord’s servant, so that thou must needs love him both for the Lord’s sake, and for thine own sake.

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