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13 | 1 Corinthians |
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1 |
I may speak in tongues of men or of angels, but if I am without love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. | |
2 |
I may have the gift of prophecy, and know every hidden truth; I may have faith strong enough to move mountains; but if I have no love, I am nothing. | |
3 |
I may dole out all I possess, or even give my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I am none the better.
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4 |
Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, | |
5 |
nor rude; never selfish, not quick to take offence. Love keeps no score of wrongs; | |
6 |
does not gloat over other men's sins, but delights in the truth. | |
7 |
There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance.
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8 |
Love will never come to an end. Are there prophets? their work will be over. Are there tongues of ecstasy? they will cease. Is there knowledge? it will vanish away; | |
9 |
for our knowledge and our prophecy alike are partial, | |
10 |
and the partial vanishes when wholeness comes. | |
11 |
When I was a child, my speech, my outlook, and my thoughts were all childish. When I grew up, I had finished with childish things. | |
12 |
Now we see only puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we shall see face to face. My knowledge now is partial; then it will be whole, like God's knowledge of me. | |
13 |
In a word, there are three things that last for ever: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of them all is love.
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