爱的真谛

13 即使我能说人类和天使的各种语言,如果没有爱,我不过像咣咣作响的锣和钹。 即使我能做先知讲道,又明白各样的奥秘,而且学问渊博,甚至有移开山岭的信心,如果没有爱,我仍然算不了什么。 即使我倾家荡产周济穷人,甚至舍己捐躯任人焚烧,如果没有爱,对我也毫无益处。

爱是恒久忍耐,又有恩慈;爱是不嫉妒,不自吹自擂,不骄傲自大, 不轻浮无礼,不自私自利,不轻易动怒,不怀怨记恨, 不喜爱不义,只喜爱真理; 凡事能包容,凡事有信心,凡事有盼望,凡事能忍耐。

爱永不止息。然而,先知讲道的恩赐终会过去,说方言的恩赐也会停止,学问也将成为过去。 我们现在知道的有限,讲道的恩赐也有限, 10 等那全备的来到,这一切有限的事都要被废弃。

11 当我是小孩子的时候,我的思想、言语和推理都像小孩子,长大后,我就把一切幼稚的事丢弃了。 12 如今我们好像对着镜子观看影像,模糊不清,但将来会看得真真切切[a]。现在我所知道的有限,但将来会完全知道,如同主知道我一样。

13 如今常存的有信、望、爱这三样,其中最伟大的是爱。

Footnotes

  1. 13:12 看得真真切切”希腊文是“面对面”。

13 Si hablo en lenguas humanas y angelicales, pero no tengo amor, no soy más que un metal que resuena o un platillo que hace ruido. Si tengo el don de profecía y entiendo todos los misterios; si poseo todo conocimiento, si tengo una fe que logra trasladar montañas, pero me falta el amor, no soy nada. Si reparto entre los pobres todo lo que poseo, si entrego mi cuerpo para tener de qué presumir,[a] pero no tengo amor, nada gano con eso.

El amor es paciente, es bondadoso. El amor no es envidioso ni presumido ni orgulloso. No se comporta con rudeza, no es egoísta, no se enoja fácilmente, no guarda rencor. El amor no se deleita en la maldad, sino que se regocija con la verdad. Todo lo disculpa, todo lo cree, todo lo espera, todo lo soporta.

El amor jamás se extingue. Pero las profecías cesarán, las lenguas terminarán y el conocimiento se agotará. Porque conocemos y profetizamos de manera imperfecta; 10 pero cuando llegue lo perfecto, lo imperfecto desaparecerá. 11 Cuando yo era niño, hablaba como niño, pensaba como niño, razonaba como niño; cuando llegué a ser adulto, dejé atrás las cosas de niño. 12 Ahora vemos de manera indirecta y velada, como en un espejo; pero entonces veremos cara a cara. Ahora conozco de manera imperfecta, pero entonces conoceré tal y como soy conocido.

13 Ahora, pues, permanecen la fe, la esperanza y el amor. Pero el amor es el más importante.

Footnotes

  1. 13:3 para … presumir. Var. para que lo consuman llamas.

13 If I speak in the tongues[a](A) of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy(B) and can fathom all mysteries(C) and all knowledge,(D) and if I have a faith(E) that can move mountains,(F) but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor(G) and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b](H) but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient,(I) love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.(J) It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,(K) it is not easily angered,(L) it keeps no record of wrongs.(M) Love does not delight in evil(N) but rejoices with the truth.(O) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(P)

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,(Q) they will cease; where there are tongues,(R) they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part(S) and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes,(T) what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood(U) behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;(V) then we shall see face to face.(W) Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.(X)

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.(Y) But the greatest of these is love.(Z)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 13:1 Or languages
  2. 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts body to the flames

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. 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. 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.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 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.

Footnotes

  1. 13:3 Some manuscripts read sacrificed my body to be burned.
  2. 13:8 Or in tongues.
  3. 13:12 Greek see face to face.