Good News Bible changes the order of the first part of this verse and begins with the dependent clause “If the Lord is willing.” This changes the emphasis slightly in English. The stress in the Greek, though, falls on the clause I will come. Translators need to find the most natural way of ordering these sentences in their languages.

The sentence I will come to you soon may be expanded as “I will come to visit you soon.”

The clause if the Lord wills may be expressed as “If the Lord wants me to.”

I will find out is literally “I will know.” The verb implies “I will discover personally,” but there is no suggestion that this knowledge will be kept secret. This sentence may also be translated as “It will become evident to me” or “I will know for sure.”

For the contrast between power and talk (literally “word”), see verse 20; also 2.4, 13; 2 Cor 10.5. 1 Cor 2.4 suggests that the power is that of the Holy Spirit—that Paul will test whether these people really do have the power of the Holy Spirit.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .