And now I will show you the most excellent way.
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.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

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.