13

1我若能說人間的方言,甚至天使的語言,卻沒有愛,我就成為鳴的鑼、響的鈸一般。 2我若有先知講道的能力,也明白各樣的奧祕,各樣的知識,而且有齊備的信心,使我能夠移山,卻沒有愛,我就算不了甚麼。 3我若將所有的財產救濟窮人,又犧牲自己的身體讓人誇讚,卻沒有愛,仍然對我無益。
4愛是恆久忍耐;又有恩慈;愛是不嫉妒;愛是不自誇,不張狂, 5不做害羞的事,不求自己的益處,不輕易發怒,不計算人的惡, 6不喜歡不義,只喜歡真理; 7凡事包容,凡事相信,凡事盼望,凡事忍耐。
8愛是永不止息。先知講道之能終必歸於無有;說方言之能終必停止;知識也終必歸於無有。 9我們現在所知道的有限,先知所講的也有限, 10等那完全的來到,這有限的必消逝。 11我作孩子的時候,說話像孩子,心思像孩子,意念像孩子;既長大成人,就把孩子的事丟棄了。 12我們現在是對着鏡子觀看,模糊不清;到那時,就要面對面了。我如今所認識的有限,到那時就全認識,如同主認識我一樣。
13如今常存的有信,有望,有愛這三樣,其中最大的是愛。

13

Love Is Indispensable

1If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When 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 put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.