Love, The More Excellent Way
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
1 If I speak with the (A)tongues of men and of (B)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a (C)clanging cymbal.
1 If I speak human or angelic languagesbut do not have love,(A)I am a sounding gong(B) or a clanging cymbal.
1 If I speak in the languages of humans and angels but have no love, I have become a reverberating gong or a clashing cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
2 If I have the gift of (D)prophecy, and know all (E)mysteries and all (F)knowledge; and if I have (G)all faith, so as to (H)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy(C)and understand all mysteriesand all knowledge,and if I have all faithso that I can move mountains(D)but do not have love, I am nothing.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing.
2 And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
3 And if I (I)give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I (J)surrender my body (a)to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
3 And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,and if I give my body in order to boast(a)but do not have love, I gain nothing.
3 Even if I give away everything that I have and sacrifice myself, but have no love, I gain nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
4 Love (K)is patient, love is kind and (L)is not jealous; love does not brag and is not (M)arrogant,
4 Love is always patient; love is always kind; love is never envious or arrogant with pride. Nor is she conceited,
4 Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant.
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
5 does not act unbecomingly; it (N)does not seek its own, is not provoked, (O)does not take into account a wrong suffered,
5 does not act improperly,is not selfish,(H) is not provoked,(I)and does not keep a record of wrongs.
5 and she is never rude; she never thinks just of herself or ever gets annoyed. She never is resentful;
5 It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
7 She bears up under everything; believes the best in all; there is no limit to her hope, and never will she fall.
7 Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of (c)(S)prophecy, they will be done away; if there are (T)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
8 Love never ends.(L)But as for prophecies,they will come to an end;as for languages, they will cease;as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
8 Love never fails. Now if there are prophecies, they will be done away with. If there are languages, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
8 Love never fails [it never fades nor ends]. But as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for the gift of special knowledge, it will pass away.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
10 But when the perfect comes,the partial will come to an end.
10 But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will be done away with.
10 But when that which is complete and perfect comes, that which is incomplete and partial will pass away.
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I (d)became a man, I did away with childish things.
11 When I was a child,I spoke like a child,I thought like a child,I reasoned like a child.When I became a man,I put aside childish things.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.
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 did away with childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
12 For now we (V)see in a mirror (e)dimly, but then (W)face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also (X)have been fully known.
12 For now we see indistinctly,(b) as in a mirror,(c)but then face to face.(M)Now I know in part,but then I will know fully,(N)as I am fully known.(O)
12 Now we see only an indistinct image in a mirror, but then we will be face to face. Now what I know is incomplete, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
12 For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God].
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
13 Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
13 And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.