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.

not as a slave any longer but more than a slave, a dearly loved brother, especially to me and much more to you, both as a servant and as a Christian.

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

I write you in perfect confidence in your compliance with my wish, because I am sure that you will do even more than I ask.