yet I prefer to appeal to you for love's sake, although I am such as I am, Paul an envoy of Christ Jesus but now a prisoner for Him too;

I am sending him back to you, which is all the same as sending my very heart.

I would have liked to keep him with me, to wait on me in your stead while I wear these chains for the good news,

For perhaps it was for this reason that he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,

So, if you consider me a comrade, take him to your bosom as you would me.