Love: The Superior Way

13 If I speak human or angelic tongues^[a] but do not have love,^(A) I am a noisy gong^(B) or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy^(C) and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains^(D) but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient,^(E) love is kind. Love does not envy,^(F) is not boastful, is not arrogant,^{(G) 5} is not rude, is not self-seeking,^(H) is not irritable,^(I) and does not keep a record of wrongs. ⁶ Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.^{(J) 7} It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures^(K) all things.

⁸ Love never ends.^(L) 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 in part, and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when the perfect 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 a man, I put aside childish things. ¹² For now we see only a reflection^[c] as in a mirror, but then face to face.^(M) Now I know in part, but then I will know fully,^(N) as I am fully known.^{(O) 13} Now these three remain: faith, hope,^(P) and love—but the greatest of these is love.

11 Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.^(A)

Instructions about Head Coverings

² Now I praise you^[a] because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions^(B) just as I delivered^(C) them to you. ³ But I want you to know that Christ is the head^(D) of every man, and the man is the head of the woman,^[b](E) and God is the head of Christ.^{(F) 4} Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors^(G) his head. ⁵ Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved.^{(H) 6} For if a woman doesn’t cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her head be covered.

⁷ A man should not cover his head, because he is the image^(I) and glory of God.^(J) So too, woman is the glory of man. ⁸ For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man.^{(K) 9} Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man. ¹⁰ This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹ In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. ¹² For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.^(L)

¹³ Judge^(M) for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not even nature itself teach^(N) you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace^(O) to him, ¹⁵ but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?^(P) For her hair is given to her^[c] as a covering. ¹⁶ If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other^[d] custom, nor do the churches of God.

The Lord’s Supper

¹⁷ Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. ¹⁸ For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. ¹⁹ Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions^(Q) among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. ²⁰ When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.^{(R) 21} For at the meal, each one eats his own supper.^[e] So one person is hungry while another gets drunk! ²² Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:^(S) On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said,^[f] “This is my body, which is^[g] for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”^(T)

²⁵ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant^(U) in my blood.^(V) Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death^(W) until he comes.^(X)

Self-Examination

²⁷ So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body^[h] and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup. ²⁹ For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body,^[i] eats and drinks judgment^(Y) on himself. ³⁰ This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep.^{(Z) 31} If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, ³² but when we are judged^(AA) by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned^(AB) with the world.

³³ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.^{[j] 34} If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.^(AC)