Chapter 13
1 If in speaking I use human tongues
and angelic as well,
but do not have love,[a]
I am nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy
and the ability to understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and have all the faith necessary to move mountains,
but do not have love,
I am nothing.
3 If I give away everything to feed the poor
and hand over my body to be burned,
but do not have love,
I achieve nothing.
4 Love is patient;
love is charitable.
Love is not envious;
it does not have an inflated opinion of itself;
it is not filled with its own importance.
5 Love is never rude;
it does not seek its own advantage.
It is not prone to anger;
neither does it brood over setbacks.
6 Love does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices in the truth.
7 Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
8 Love never fails.
Prophecies will eventually cease,
tongues will become silent,
and knowledge will pass away,
9 for our knowledge is partial
and our prophesying is partial;
10 but when we encounter what is perfect,
that which is imperfect will pass away.
11 When I was a child,
I used to talk like a child,
think like a child,
and reason like a child.
However, when I became a man,
I put all childish ways aside.
12 At the present time we see indistinctly, as in a mirror;
then we shall see face to face.
My knowledge is only partial now;
then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known.
13 Thus there are three things that endure: faith, hope, and love,
and the greatest of these is love.[b]
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:1 Love: the Greek term for this word means selfless concern for the welfare of others regardless of whether they are lovable or not. It arises from a willingness to love in obedience to the command of God and a desire to follow Christ’s love manifested on the cross (see Jn 13:34f; 1 Jn 3:16).
- 1 Corinthians 13:13 The greatest of these is love: this conclusion follows from the fact that God is love (1 Jn 4:8) and has communicated his love to us (1 Jn 4:10) and commands us to love one another (Jn 13:34f).