1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Legacy Standard Bible
31 But [a]you (A)earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And I will yet show you a more excellent way.
The Excellence of Love
13 If I speak with the (B)tongues of men and of (C)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a (D)clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of (E)prophecy, and know all (F)mysteries and all (G)knowledge; and if I have (H)all faith, so as to (I)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I (J)give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I (K)surrender my body [b]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love (L)is patient, love is kind, (M)is not jealous, does not brag, is not (N)puffed up; 5 it does not act unbecomingly, (O)does not seek its own, is not provoked, (P)does not take into account a wrong suffered; 6 (Q)it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but (R)rejoices with the truth; 7 [c](S)it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails, but if there are gifts of [d](T)prophecy, they will be done away; if there are (U)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we (V)know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the [e]perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I [f]became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we (W)see in a mirror [g]dimly, but then (X)face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also (Y)have been fully known. 13 But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the [h]greatest of these is (Z)love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 12:31 Or earnestly desire
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some early mss that I may boast
- 1 Corinthians 13:7 Or covers
- 1 Corinthians 13:8 Lit prophecies
- 1 Corinthians 13:10 Or mature
- 1 Corinthians 13:11 Lit have become...have done away with
- 1 Corinthians 13:12 Lit in a riddle
- 1 Corinthians 13:13 Lit greater
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.(A)
The Gift of Love
13 If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.(B) 3 If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast[a] but do not have love, I gain nothing.(C)
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant(D) 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs;(E) 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.(F) 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.(G)
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.(H) 13 And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes
- 13.3 Other ancient authorities read body to be burned
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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.