1 Corinthians 13
Speaking eloquently or possessing great knowledge and faith is meaningless without charity. Charity is characterized by patience, kindness, and humility, and it rejoices in truth and endures all things. Even the greatest spiritual gifts will eventually pass away, but charity remains. In the end, faith, hope, and charity will remain, with charity being the greatest of these.
1If I were to speak in the language of men, or of Angels, yet not have charity, I would be like a clanging bell or a crashing cymbal2And if I have prophecy, and learn every mystery, and obtain all knowledge, and possess all faith, so that I could move mountains, yet not have charity, then I am nothing3And if I distribute all my goods in order to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, yet not have charity, it offers me nothing4Charity is patient, is kind. Charity does not envy, does not act wrongly, is not inflated5Charity is not ambitious, does not seek for itself, is not provoked to anger, devises no evil6Charity does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices in truth7Charity suffers all, believes all, hopes all, endures all8Charity is never torn away, even if prophecies pass away, or languages cease, or knowledge is destroyed9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part10But when the perfect arrives, the imperfect passes away11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child. But when I became a man, I put aside the things of a child12Now we see through a glass darkly. But then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, even as I am known13But for now, these three continue: faith, hope, and charity. And the greatest of these is charity
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