Passage

1 Corinthians 13.4

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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;" (1 Corinthians 13:2-6, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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;" (1 Corinthians 13:2-6, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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}" (1 Corinthians 13:2-6, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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;" (1 Corinthians 13:2-6, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: Christian believers in Corinth
Location: composed in Ephesus; addressed to Corinth
Time period: composed c. AD 55-56

Theological reading

Key words

G0026 - agape, agape (Strong's G26). Also appears in: John 5, John 13.34-35, John 15.9.

Quoted in

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.