1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
English Standard Version
31 But (A)earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
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. 2 And if I have (B)prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, (C)so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 (D)If I give away all I have, and (E)if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 (F)Love is patient and (G)kind; love (H)does not envy or boast; it (I)is not arrogant 5 or rude. It (J)does not insist on its own way; it (K)is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it (L)does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but (M)rejoices with the truth. 7 (N)Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, (O)endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For (P)we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but (Q)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 (R)now we see in a mirror dimly, but (S)then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as (T)I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast
- 1 Corinthians 13:5 Greek irritable and does not count up wrongdoing
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Lexham English Bible
31 But strive[a] for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Love, the More Excellent Way
13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a ringing brass gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and I know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I parcel out all my possessions, and if I hand over my body in order that I will be burned,[b] but do not have love, it benefits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, it does not boast, it does not become conceited, 5 it does not behave dishonorably, it is not selfish[c], it does not become angry, it does not keep a record of wrongs, 6 it does not rejoice at unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will pass away. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but whenever 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 set aside the things of a child. 12 For now we see through a mirror indirectly[d], but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know completely, just as I have also been completely known. 13 And now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 12:31 Or “you are striving” (some understand the form of this verb to be indicative mood rather than imperative mood)
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts have “in order that I may boast”
- 1 Corinthians 13:5 Literally “does not seek the things of itself”
- 1 Corinthians 13:12 Literally “in an indirect image”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software