Bible verse
I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
Philemon 1:13 · BSB
The verses around it, from Philemon 1.
9 I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well.
10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains.
11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
12 I am sending back to you him who is my very heart.
13 I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will.
15 For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good—
16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother. He is especially beloved to me, but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
KJV
Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
ASV
whom I would fain have kept with me, that in thy behalf he might minister unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
ERV
whom I would fain have kept with me, that in thy behalf he might minister unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.