[1] I may speak in different languages, whether human or even of angels. But if I don't have love, I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. [2] I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don't have love, I am nothing. [3] I may give away everything I have to help others, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing by doing all this if I don't have love. [4] Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. [5] Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. [6] Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. [7] Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. [8] Love will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end-even the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge. [9] These will all end because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete. [10] But when perfection comes, the things that are not complete will end. [11] When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, and I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. [12] It is the same with us. Now we see God as if we are looking at a reflection in a mirror. But then, in the future, we will see him right before our eyes. Now I know only a part, but at that time I will know fully, as God has known me. [13] So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.
