1 Corinthians 13 (NLV) (2024)

Love—the Greatest of All

13I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I do not have love, it will sound like noisy brass. ²If I have the gift of speaking God’s Word and if I understand all secrets, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I know all things and if I have the gift of faith so I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give everything I have to feed poor people and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it will not help me.

⁴Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. ⁵Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. ⁶Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. ⁷Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things.

⁸Love never comes to an end. The gift of speaking God’s Word will come to an end. The gift of speaking in special sounds will be stopped. The gift of understanding will come to an end. ⁹For we only know a part now, and we speak only a part. ¹⁰When everything is perfect, then we will not need these gifts that are not perfect.

¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I understood like a child. Now I am a man. I do not act like a child anymore. ¹²Now that which we see is as if we were looking in a broken mirror. But then we will see everything. Now I know only a part. But then I will know everything in a perfect way. That is how God knows me right now. ¹³And now we have these three: faith and hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

13If I talk with the tongues of men and even of angels, but if I do not love people, then I am only like the sound of a big horn or a loud bell.

²If I speak words from God, if I can understand all secrets, and know everything, if I can move mountains by believing, but if I do not love people, I am nothing, even though I can do all of these things.

³If I give away all I have, and if I give my body to be burned, but if I do not love people, I get nothing out of it.

⁴Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. Love is not proud and does not boast.

⁵Love does not do things that are not nice. Love does not just think of itself. Love does not get angry. Love holds no wrong feelings in the heart.

⁶Love is not glad when people do wrong things. But it is always glad when they do right.

⁷Love forgives everything. Love is always trusting, and always hoping, and never gives up.

⁸Love never ends. The gift of speaking words from God will end. The gift of speaking in different tongues or languages will stop. The gift of knowing many things will end.

⁹Now we know only a little, and we can speak only a little of God's words.

¹⁰But when everything becomes perfect, that part will come to an end.

¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child. I understood like a child. I thought like a child. But when I became a man, I stopped doing things like a child.

¹²Now it is like looking in a looking-glass which does not make things clear. We cannot see and understand things plainly. But when things become perfect, then we shall fully know and understand everything, just as God knows.

¹³These three things will remain for ever. They are faith, hope, and love. And love is the greatest of them.