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. 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. (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.

(E)Love is patient and (F)kind; love (G)does not envy or boast; it (H)is not arrogant or rude. It (I)does not insist on its own way; it (J)is not irritable or resentful;[b] it (K)does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but (L)rejoices with the truth. (M)Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, (N)endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 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. 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast
  2. 1 Corinthians 13:5 Greek irritable and does not count up wrongdoing

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.

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. 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. 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.

Love (K)is patient, love is kind, it (L)is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not (M)arrogant. 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, (P)it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but (Q)rejoices with the truth; it [b](R)keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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. 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. 1 Corinthians 13:3 I.e., in martyrdom
  2. 1 Corinthians 13:7 Lit covers all things
  3. 1 Corinthians 13:8 Lit prophecies
  4. 1 Corinthians 13:11 Lit have become...have done away with
  5. 1 Corinthians 13:12 Lit in a riddle
  6. 1 Corinthians 13:13 Lit greater

13 Ἐὰν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον. [a]καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν καὶ εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γνῶσιν, [b]καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω πᾶσαν τὴν πίστιν ὥστε ὄρη [c]μεθιστάναι, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐθέν εἰμι. [d]καὶ ἐὰν ψωμίσω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου, [e]καὶ ἐὰν παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μου, ἵνα [f]καυθήσομαι, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι.

Ἡ ἀγάπη μακροθυμεῖ, χρηστεύεται ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐ ζηλοῖ [g]ἡ ἀγάπη, οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται, οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς, οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν, οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει, πάντα ἐλπίζει, πάντα ὑπομένει.

Ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε [h]πίπτει. εἴτε δὲ προφητεῖαι, καταργηθήσονται· εἴτε γλῶσσαι, παύσονται· εἴτε γνῶσις, καταργηθήσεται. ἐκ μέρους [i]γὰρ γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν· 10 ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον, [j]τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται. 11 ὅτε ἤμην νήπιος, [k]ἐλάλουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐφρόνουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐλογιζόμην ὡς νήπιος· [l]ὅτε γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου. 12 βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι’ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον· ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην. 13 νυνὶ δὲ μένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη· τὰ τρία ταῦτα, μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη.

Footnotes

  1. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:2 *καὶ ἐὰν Treg NIV RP ] κἂν WH
  2. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:2 *καὶ ἐὰν NIV RP ] κἂν WH Treg
  3. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:2 μεθιστάναι Treg NIV ] μεθιστάνειν WH RP
  4. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:3 *καὶ ἐὰν RP ] κἂν WH Treg NIV
  5. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:3 *καὶ ἐὰν Treg NIV RP ] κἂν WH
  6. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:3 καυθήσομαι NIV ] καυθήσωμαι Treg RP; καυχήσωμαι WH NA
  7. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:4 ἡ ἀγάπη Treg NIV RP ] – WH
  8. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:8 πίπτει WH Treg NIV ] ἐκπίπτει RP
  9. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:9 γὰρ WH Treg NIV ] δὲ RP
  10. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:10 τὸ WH Treg NIV ] τότε τὸ RP
  11. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:11 ἐλάλουν … ἐλογιζόμην ὡς νήπιος WH Treg NIV ] ὡς νήπιος ἐλάλουν … ἐλογιζόμην RP
  12. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 13:11 ὅτε WH Treg NIV ] + δὲ RP