1 Corinthians 13
English Standard Version
The Way of Love
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have (A)prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, (B)so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 (C)If I give away all I have, and (D)if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 (E)Love is patient and (F)kind; love (G)does not envy or boast; it (H)is not arrogant 5 or rude. It (I)does not insist on its own way; it (J)is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it (K)does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but (L)rejoices with the truth. 7 (M)Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, (N)endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For (O)we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but (P)when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For (Q)now we see in a mirror dimly, but (R)then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as (S)I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast
- 1 Corinthians 13:5 Greek irritable and does not count up wrongdoing
1 Corinthians 13
New American Standard Bible
The Excellence of Love
13 If I speak with the (A)tongues of mankind and of (B)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a (C)clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of (D)prophecy and know all (E)mysteries and all (F)knowledge, and if I have (G)all faith so as to (H)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I (I)give away all my possessions to charity, and if I (J)surrender my body so that I may [a]glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.
4 Love (K)is patient, love is kind, it (L)is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not (M)arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it (N)does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, (O)does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 (P)it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but (Q)rejoices with the truth; 7 it [b](R)keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of [c](S)prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are (T)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we (U)know in part and prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I [d]became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we (V)see in a mirror [e]dimly, but then (W)face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also (X)have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the [f]greatest of these is (Y)love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 I.e., in martyrdom
- 1 Corinthians 13:7 Lit covers all things
- 1 Corinthians 13:8 Lit prophecies
- 1 Corinthians 13:11 Lit have become...have done away with
- 1 Corinthians 13:12 Lit in a riddle
- 1 Corinthians 13:13 Lit greater
1 Corinthians 13
Contemporary English Version
Love
13 What if I could speak
all languages of humans
and even of angels?
If I did not love others,
I would be nothing more
than a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal.
2 (A) What if I could prophesy
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge?
And what if I had faith
that moved mountains?
I would be nothing,
unless I loved others.
3 What if I gave away all
that I owned
and let myself
be burned alive?[a]
I would gain nothing,
unless I loved others.
4 Love is patient and kind,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or 5 rude.
Love isn't selfish
or quick tempered.
It doesn't keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
6 Love rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
7 Love is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trusting.
8 Love never fails!
Everyone who prophesies
will stop,
and unknown languages
will no longer
be spoken.
All that we know
will be forgotten.
9 We don't know everything,
and our prophecies
are not complete.
10 But what is perfect
will someday appear,
and what isn't perfect
will then disappear.
11 When we were children,
we thought and reasoned
as children do.
But when we grew up,
we quit our childish ways.
12 Now all we can see of God
is like a cloudy picture
in a mirror.
Later we will see him
face to face.
We don't know everything,
but then we will,
just as God completely
understands us.
13 For now there are faith,
hope, and love.
But of these three,
the greatest is love.
Footnotes
- 13.3 and let myself be burned alive: Some manuscripts have “so that I could brag.”
1 Corinthians 13
The Message
The Way of Love
13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
1 Corinthians 13
New Living Translation
Love Is the Greatest
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
