I am sending Onesimus back to you. He is as dear to me as my own self, and he will now be even dearer to you than he is to me.

Philemon 12-16

12 Although ◄he is as dear to me as/I love him as much as I love► [MET] my own self [MTY], I am sending him back to you. 13 I would like to have kept him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf, while I am a prisoner [MTY] because of my preaching the message about Christ. 14 Nevertheless, because I had not yet asked you and you had not yet permitted me to keep him here with me, I decided not to keep him here. I decided that I should not do anything without your permitting it. I decided that you should help me only if you really want to help me. 15 Perhaps the reason that God permitted Onesimus to be separated from {to leave} you for a little while was that he would believe in Christ, and as a result you would have him ◄back/with you► forever! 16 You will no longer have him only as a slave. Instead, you will have him as someone who is more than a slave. You will have him as a fellow believer! He is especially dear to me, but he certainly will be more dear to you than he is to me (OR, I love him very much, but you will certainly love him more than I do), because now he not only belongs to you but he also belongs to the Lord.