'Love' in the Bible

Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Like the grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season, I saw your ancestors. They themselves came [to] Baal Peor, and they consecrated themselves to shame. And they became detestable things, like {the thing they love}.

Every evil of theirs [began] at Gilgal, so I [began] to hate them there; because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out from my house. I will love them no more; all their officials [are] rebels.

Sow for yourselves righteousness; {reap loyal love}. Break up for yourself fallow ground; [it is] time to seek Yahweh so he will come and rain righteousness upon you.

I drew them {with human ties}, with the bands of love. I was to them like one who lifted up a yoke on their jaws, [though] I bent down to them [and] let them eat.

But you, you must return to your God; keep love and justice, and wait continually for your God.

I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely because my anger has turned back from them.

Rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to Yahweh your God, because he [is] gracious and compassionate, {slow to anger} and great in loyal love, and relenting from harm.

And bring a thank offering of unleavened bread, and proclaim freewill offerings, pronounce them, for so you love [to do], O {people} of Israel," [is] the declaration of my Lord Yahweh.

Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious [to] the remnant of Joseph.

Those who worship vain idols forsake their loyal love.

And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, [was] this not {what I said} while I was in my homeland? Therefore {I originally fled} to Tarshish, because I knew that you [are] a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger {and having great steadfast love}, and one who relents concerning calamity.

He has told you, O mortal, what [is] good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Who [is] a God like you, forgiving sin and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, for he delights in loyal love.

You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.

Yahweh your God [is] in your midst; a mighty warrior who saves. He shall rejoice over you with joy; he renews you in his love; he will exult over you with singing.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Judge [with] trustworthy justice, and show steadfast love and compassion {to one another}.

Do not devise evil in your hearts [against] your neighbor, and do not love {a false oath}, because all these [are] things I hate," {declares} Yahweh.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth [month], the fifth [month], the seventh [month], and the tenth [month] will be for the house of Judah jubilation and joy and merry festivals; therefore love truth and peace.'

And someone shall say to him, "What [are] these wounds {between your arms}?" and he will say, "Those I have received [in] the house of [the ones who] love me." '"

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'Hate your enemy.'

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors also do the same?

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand [and] pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

"No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money.

honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself."

And he said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

And the second [is] like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues

and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold.

And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.'

The second [is] this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

And to love him from your whole heart and from your whole understanding and from your whole strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

"And if you love those who love you, what kind of credit is [that] to you? For even sinners love those who love them!

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting back nothing, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

[When] they were not able to repay [him], he forgave [the debts] of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

And he answered [and] said, "You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

"But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these [things] without neglecting those things also.

Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces!

No domestic slave is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money."

"Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets,

but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.

Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I have come forth from God and have come. For I have not come from myself, but that one sent me.

So the sisters sent [word] to him, saying, "Lord, behold, [the one] whom you love is sick."

"A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another--just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples--if you have love for one another."

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

The one who has my commandments and keeps them--that one is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him."

Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and {will take up residence with him}.

The one who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.

But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and just as the Father has commanded me, thus I am doing. Get up, let us go from here!

"Just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

This is my commandment: that you love one another just as I have loved you.

No one has greater love than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends.

These [things] I command you: that you love one another.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this [reason] the world hates you.

And I made known to them your name, and will make [it] known, in order that the love [with] which you loved me may be in them, and I [may be] in them."

Now when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon [son] of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs!"

He said to him again a second time, "Simon [son] of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Shepherd my sheep!"

He said to him a third [time], "Simon [son] of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed because he said to him a third [time], "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything! You know that I love you!" Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep!

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

but God demonstrates his own love for us, [in] that [while] we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And we know that all [things] work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to [his] purpose,

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? [Will] affliction or distress or persecution or hunger or lack of sufficient clothing or danger or the sword?

nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what [is] evil; be attached to what [is] good,

being devoted to one another in brotherly love, esteeming one another [more highly] in honor,

Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another, for the one who loves someone else has fulfilled the law.

For the [commandments], "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet," and if [there is] any other commandment, are summed up in this statement: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Love does not commit evil against a neighbor. Therefore love [is the] fulfillment of the law.

For if because of food, your brother is grieved, you are no longer living according to love. Do not destroy by your food that person for whom Christ died.

Now I exhort you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to contend along with me in your prayers on my behalf to God,

But just as it is written, "[Things] which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him."

What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols, we know that "we all have knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a ringing brass gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have [the gift of] prophecy and I know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that [I can] remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

And if I parcel out all my possessions, and if I hand over my body in order that I will be burned, but do not have love, it benefits [me] nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, [it] does not boast, [it] does not become conceited,

Love never ends. But if [there are] prophecies, they will pass away. If [there are] tongues, they will cease. If [there is] knowledge, it will pass away.

And now these three [things] remain: faith, hope, [and] love. But the greatest of these [is] love.

Pursue love, and strive for spiritual [gifts], but especially that you may prophesy.

All your [actions] must be done in love.

If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!

My love [be] with all of you in Christ Jesus.

For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you through many tears, not so that you may be caused to be sad, but so that you may know the love that I have especially for you.

Therefore I urge you to confirm [your] love for him.

For the love of Christ controls us, [because we] have concluded this: that one died for all; as a result all died.

in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love without hypocrisy,

But just as you excel in everything--in faith and in speaking and in knowledge and with all diligence and in the love from us [that is] in you--so may you excel in this grace also.

I am not saying [this] as a command, but proving the genuineness of your love by means of the diligence of others.

Therefore show to them the proof of your love and our boasting about you {openly before} the churches.

{Why}? Because I do not love you? God knows [I do]!

But I will spend and be expended most gladly for your lives. If I love you much more, am I to be loved less?

Finally, brothers, rejoice, be restored, be encouraged, {be in agreement}, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit [be] with all of you.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not let your freedom [become] an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.