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