1 If I speak in the tongues of men
and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging
cymbal.
2 If 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.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender
my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy,
it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not
easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with
the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres.
8 Love 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.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11 When 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.
12 Now 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.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.