For I do not want to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I do not wish to see you now in passing, but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.
- KJV For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.
- BSB For I do not want to see you now only in passing; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.
- NKJV For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits.
- NLT This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul does not want a passing visit but hopes to stay a while, if the Lord permits. It matters because it shows both his love for them and his submission to God's will.
Overview
Paul desires more than a brief stop; he longs for meaningful time with the Corinthians. Yet he qualifies every plan with 'if the Lord permits,' submitting his intentions to God's sovereign will. This blend of earnest love and humble dependence models how believers should hold their own plans before the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Acts 18:21but taking his leave of them, and saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills,” he set sail from Ephesus.
- 1 Cor 4:19But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing. And I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.
- Jas 4:15For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.”
- Rom 1:10requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.
- Jer 10:23Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
- 2 Cor 1:15In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit;
- Prov 19:21There are many plans in a man’s heart, but Yahweh’s counsel will prevail.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 16:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.