The Greatest Gift

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ² And though I have the gift of ^(A)prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, ^(B)so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ And ^(C)though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body ^[a]to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

^4 (D)Love suffers long and is ^(E)kind; love ^(F)does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not ^[b]puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, ^(G)does not seek its own, is not provoked, ^[c]thinks no evil; ^6 (H)does not rejoice in iniquity, but ^(I)rejoices in the truth; ^7 (J)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ^9 (K)For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is ^[d]perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For ^(L)now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then ^(M)face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

²² But ^(A)the fruit of the Spirit is ^(B)love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, ^(C)goodness, ^(D)faithfulness, ^23 [a]gentleness, self-control. ^(E)Against such there is no law.

Knowing God Through Love^(A)

^7 (B)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who ^(C)loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ^9 (D)In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten ^(E)Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(F)not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son ^(G)to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, ^(H)if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Obedience by Faith

^20 (A)If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^[a]how can he love God ^(B)whom he has not seen? ²¹ And ^(C)this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

The Imperative of Love^(A)

¹⁰ In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. ¹¹ For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, ^(B)that we should love one another, ¹² not as ^(C)Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

¹³ Do not marvel, my brethren, if ^(D)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love ^[a]his brother abides in death. ^15 (E)Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(F)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

The Outworking of Love

^16 (G)By this we know love, ^(H)because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But ^(I)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸ My little children, ^(J)let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

^9 (A)He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. ^10 (B)He who loves his brother abides in the light, and ^(C)there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But he who ^(D)hates his brother is in darkness and ^(E)walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Love Your Neighbor^(A)

⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for ^(B)he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ^(C)“You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” ^[a]“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ^(D)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore ^(E)love is the fulfillment of the law.

¹² Therefore, ^(A)whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for ^(B)this is the Law and the Prophets.