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(1 Corinthians Chapter 13)
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love, I am only a resounding gong
or a clanging cymbal. If 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I
give all I possess to the poor and surrender my
body to the flames, but have not love, I gain
nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is
not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not
easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with
the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Love 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. For we know in
part and we prophesy in part, but when
perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
When
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 childish ways behind me. Now
we see but a poor 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.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and
love. But the greatest of these is love.
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