✉️WEB · Philemon 1:14
What does Philemon 1:14 mean?
"But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will."
— Philemon 1:14 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me.
I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Good News.
But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will.
For perhaps he was therefore separated from you for a while, that you would have him forever,
no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much rather to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
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