Passage

1 Corinthians 13.1-13

Book: 1 Corinthians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 4. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5. doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; 6. rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; 7. beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8. Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. 9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; 10. but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 11. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. 12. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. 13. But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. 3. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing. 4. Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5. doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6. doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7. bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; 10. but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. 11. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. 12. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. 13. But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three. The greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. 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. 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. 4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ^{vaunteth: or, is not rash} 5. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; ^{in the truth: or, with the truth} 7. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 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. ^{fail: Gr. vanish away} 9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. ^{done away: Gr. vanish 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. ^{thought: or, reasoned} ^{put away: Gr. vanish away} 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. ^{darkly: Gr. in a riddle} 13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. If with the tongues of men and of messengers I speak, and have not love, I have become brass sounding, or a cymbal tinkling; 2. and if I have prophecy, and know all the secrets, and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing; 3. and if I give away to feed others all my goods, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing. 4. The love is long-suffering, it is kind, the love doth not envy, the love doth not vaunt itself, is not puffed up, 5. doth not act unseemly, doth not seek its own things, is not provoked, doth not impute evil, 6. rejoiceth not over the unrighteousness, and rejoiceth with the truth; 7. all things it beareth, all it believeth, all it hopeth, all it endureth. 8. The love doth never fail; and whether [there be] prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless; 9. for in part we know, and in part we prophecy; 10. and when that which is perfect may come, then that which [is] in part shall become useless. 11. When I was a babe, as a babe I was speaking, as a babe I was thinking, as a babe I was reasoning, and when I have become a man, I have made useless the things of the babe; 12. for we see now through a mirror obscurely, and then face to face; now I know in part, and then I shall fully know, as also I was known; 13. and now there doth remain faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these [is] love." (1 Corinthians 13:1-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

G0026 - agape

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.