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
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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