| Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. | If in speaking I use human tongues and angelic as well, but do not have love, I am nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. |
| 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. | If I have the gift of prophecy and the ability to understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all the faith necessary to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. |
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| 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. | If I give away everything to feed the poor and hand over my body to be burned, but do not have love, I achieve nothing. |
| Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. | Love is patient; love is charitable. Love is not envious; it does not have an inflated opinion of itself; it is not filled with its own importance. Love is never rude; it does not seek its own advantage. It is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over setbacks. |
| Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. | Love does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. |
| And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. | Thus there are three things that endure: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. |
