Therefore if you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me.

Since I was confident that you would obey, I wrote to you, because I knew that you would do even more than what I am asking you to do.

However, without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your good deed would not be out of compulsion, but from your own willingness.

For perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a little while, so that you would have him back eternally,

I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus –

I wanted to keep him so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the sake of the gospel.