1 Corinthians 13
13
Let Love Be Your Guide
1I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. 2I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing. 3I may give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don’t have love.
4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. 6Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. 7Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits.
8Love will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end—even the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge. 9These will all end because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete. 10But when perfection comes, the things that are not complete will end.
11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, and I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. 12It is the same with us. Now we see God as if we are looking at a reflection in a mirror. But then, in the future, we will see him right before our eyes. Now I know only a part, but at that time I will know fully, as God has known me. 13So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
1 Corinthians 13
13
Love
1I may speak in the languages of humans and of angels. But if I don’t have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing cymbal. 2I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains. But if I don’t have love, I am nothing. 3I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned.#13:3 Some manuscripts read “give up my body so that I may brag.” But if I don’t have love, none of these things will help me.
4Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. 5It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. 6It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. 7Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.
8Love never comes to an end. There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be used. There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by itself. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will no longer be used. 9Our knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete. 10But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways. 12Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me.
13So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the best one of these is love.
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