1 Corinthians 13
13
Love: The Superior Way
1If I speak human or angelic languages
but do not have love, # Jn 13:35; 1Jn 4:7-12
I am a sounding gong # Mt 10:9 or a clanging cymbal.
2If I have the gift of prophecy # 1Co 14:1,3-6,22-39; Eph 4:11; 1Th 5:20
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains # Mt 17:20
but do not have love, I am nothing.
3And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast # Other mss read body to be burned
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, # 1Th 5:14 love is kind.
Love does not envy, # Nm 25:13; Gl 4:17
is not boastful, is not conceited, # 1Co 4:6
5does not act improperly,
is not selfish, # Mk 10:45; Php 2:4 is not provoked, # Ac 17:16
and does not keep a record of wrongs.
6Love finds no joy in unrighteousness
but rejoices in the truth. # Ps 119:142; Jn 8:14; 14:6
7It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures # Jms 1:12 all things.
8Love never ends. # Mt 7:25,27; Lk 6:49; 11:17; 13:4; 16:17; Ac 15:16; Heb 11:30; Rv 11:13; 16:19
But as for prophecies,
they will come to an end;
as for languages, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
9For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part.
10But when the perfect comes,
the partial will come to an end.
11When 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.
12For now we see indistinctly, # Or indirectly as in a mirror, # Ancient mirrors were normally made out of polished metals and were not as clear as modern ones.
but then face to face. # 1Jn 3:2
Now I know in part,
but then I will know fully, # Pr 2:6; Jn 17:3; 1Jn 4:8
as I am fully known. # 1Co 8:3; Gl 4:9
13Now these three remain:
faith, hope, # 1Th 1:3 and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
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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