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1 Corinthians 13:4-13
New International Version
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
New International Version
4 Love is patient,(A) love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.(B) 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,(C) it is not easily angered,(D) it keeps no record of wrongs.(E) 6 Love does not delight in evil(F) but rejoices with the truth.(G) 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(H)
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,(I) they will cease; where there are tongues,(J) they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part(K) and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes,(L) 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(M) behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror;(N) then we shall see face to face.(O) Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.(P)
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.(Q) But the greatest of these is love.(R)
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
New King James Version
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
New King James Version
4 (A)Love suffers long and is (B)kind; love (C)does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not [a]puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, (D)does not seek its own, is not provoked, [b]thinks no evil; 6 (E)does not rejoice in iniquity, but (F)rejoices in the truth; 7 (G)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 (H)For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is [c]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 (I)now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then (J)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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:4 arrogant
- 1 Corinthians 13:5 keeps no accounts of evil
- 1 Corinthians 13:10 complete
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
Good News Translation
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
Good News Translation
4 Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; 5 love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; 6 love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. 7 Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.
8 Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. 9 For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; 10 but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.
11 When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways. 12 What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete—as complete as God's knowledge of me.
13 Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.
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1 Corinthians 13:4-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant(A) 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs;(B) 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.(C) 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.(D)
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.(E) 13 And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.
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1 Corinthians 13:4-13
The Message
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
The Message
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.
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New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson