1I may speak in tongues of men or of angels, but if I am without love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2I 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. 3I 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.
4Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, 5nor rude; never selfish, not quick to take offence. Love keeps no score of wrongs; 6does not gloat over other men's sins, but delights in the truth. 7There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance.
8Love 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; 9for our knowledge and our prophecy alike are partial, 10and the partial vanishes when wholeness comes. 11When I was a child, my speech, my outlook, and my thoughts were all childish. When I grew up, I had finished with childish things. 12Now 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. 13In 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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