1 Corinthians 13
13
1If I speak in human and angelic tongues#An inventory of gifts, arranged in careful gradation: neither tongues (on the lowest rung), nor prophecy, knowledge, or faith, nor even self-sacrifice has value unless informed by love. but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.#8:1; 16:14; Rom 12:9–10; 13:8–10. 2And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.#4:1; 14:2 / 1:5; 8:1–3; 12:8 / Mt 17:20; 21:21; Col 2:3. 3If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.#Mt 6:2.
4#This paragraph is developed by personification and enumeration, defining love by what it does or does not do. The Greek contains fifteen verbs; it is natural to translate many of them by adjectives in English. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated,#Eph 4:2 / 1 Cor 4:6, 18; 5:2; 8:1. 5it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,#10:24, 33; Phil 2:4, 21; 1 Thes 5:15. 6it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.#Prv 10:12; 1 Pt 4:8.
8#The final paragraph announces its topic, Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8), then develops the permanence of love in contrast to the charisms (1 Cor 13:9–12), and finally asserts love’s superiority even over the other “theological virtues” (1 Cor 13:13). Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. 9For we know partially and we prophesy partially, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.#2 Cor 5:7; Heb 11:1 / 2 Tm 2:19; 1 Jn 3:2. 13#In speaking of love, Paul is led by spontaneous association to mention faith and hope as well. They are already a well-known triad (cf. 1 Thes 1:3), three interrelated (cf. 1 Cor 13:7) features of Christian life, more fundamental than any particular charism. The greatest…is love: love is operative even within the other members of the triad (1 Cor 13:7), so that it has a certain primacy among them. Or, if the perspective is temporal, love will remain (cf. “never fails,” 1 Cor 13:8) even when faith has yielded to sight and hope to possession. So faith, hope, love remain, these three;#Col 1:4; 1 Thes 1:3; 5:8. but the greatest of these is love.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
1 Corinthians 13
13
1Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings or of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal. 2Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all. 3Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give myself over to a difficult life so I can brag. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all.
4Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. 5It does not dishonor other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. 6Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. 7It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up.
8Love never fails. But prophecy will pass away. Speaking in languages that had not been known before will end. And knowledge will pass away. 9What we know now is not complete. What we prophesy now is not perfect. 10But when what is complete comes, the things that are not complete will pass away. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I had the understanding of a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a foggy mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely.
13The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.
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