HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1410
1 C O RIN T H I A N S 1 3
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets?
Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power
to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of
healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in
unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course
not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most
helpful gifts.
But now let me show you a way of life that
is best of all.
— promises —
from God
Three things will last
forever—faith, hope, and
love—and the greatest
of these is love.
1 C O R I N T H I A N S 1 3:1 3
Love Is the Greatest
If I could speak all the languages of earth
and of angels, but didn’t love others,
I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all
knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could
move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would
be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the
poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast
about it;* but if I didn’t love others, I would
have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not
demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it
keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not
rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the
truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses
faith, is always hopeful, and endures through
every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages* and special knowledge will become
useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our
knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even
the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the
whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection
comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought
and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up,
I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things
imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect
clarity.* All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13
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13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope,
and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Tongues and Prophecy
Let love be your highest goal! But you
should also desire the special abilities
the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy. 2 For if you have the ability to speak in
tongues,* you will be talking only to God, since
people won’t be able to understand you. You will
be speaking by the power of the Spirit,* but it
will all be mysterious. 3 But one who prophesies
strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. 4 A person who speaks in tongues is
strengthened personally, but one who speaks a
word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.
5 I wish you could all speak in tongues, but
even more I wish you could all prophesy. For
prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues,
unless someone interprets what you are saying
so that the whole church will be strengthened.
6 Dear brothers and sisters,* if I should come
to you speaking in an unknown language,* how
would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy
or teaching, that will be helpful. 7 Even lifeless
instruments like the flute or the harp must play
the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the
melody. 8 And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear
call, how will the soldiers know they are being
called to battle?
9 It’s the same for you. If you speak to people
in words they don’t understand, how will they
know what you are saying? You might as well be
talking into empty space.
10 There are many different languages in the
world, and every language has meaning. 11 But
if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one
who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12 And
the same is true for you. Since you are so eager
to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek
those that will strengthen the whole church.
13 So anyone who speaks in tongues should
pray also for the ability to interpret what has
been said. 14 For if I pray in tongues, my spirit
is praying, but I don’t understand what I am
saying.
15 Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the
spirit,* and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also
sing in words I understand. 16 For if you praise
God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t
understand you praise God along with you?
How can they join you in giving thanks when
they don’t understand what you are saying?
14
13:3 Some manuscripts read sacrificed my body to be burned.
13:8 Or in tongues. 13:12 Greek see face to face. 14:2a Or
in unknown languages; also in 14:4, 5, 13, 14, 18, 22, 26, 27, 28,
39. 14:2b Or speaking in your spirit. 14:6a Greek brothers;
also in 14:20, 26, 39. 14:6b Or in tongues; also in 14:19, 23.
14:15 Or in the Spirit; also in 14:15b, 16.