1If I speak in the
tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I
am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If
I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and
surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with
the truth. 7It always protects, always
trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there
are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled;
where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For
we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but
when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When
I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind
me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as
in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall
know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes: