The greatest gift
1 If I were to speak in the languages of people and angels, yet have no love, I would be like noisy metal or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I were to be prophetic and perceive all secrets and have all knowledge, and have a faith that can move mountains, yet have no love, I am nothing. 3 And if I were to give away all my possessions and even give up my body so I could brag, yet have no love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not obsessed, not arrogant, not conceited, 5 not rude, not self-seeking, not thin-skinned, and does not keep an account of offenses. 6 It does not gloat over unrighteousness but celebrates the truth; 7 it puts up with everything, trusts everything, expects everything, and endures everything.
8 Love never fails. If there are prophecies they will cease to be useful; if there are languages they will stop; if there is knowledge it will cease to be useful. 9 For we only have partial knowledge and partial prophecy, 10 but when all is completed the partial will cease to be useful. 11 When I was a baby I spoke, thought, and reasoned like a baby. But now that I’ve grown up I have no more use for those baby things.
12 Right now we see all this as though we are looking at a puzzle in a mirror, but then we will see face to face; right now I have partial knowledge, but then I will know as thoroughly as I am known. 13 For now, these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.