1 Corinthians 13-15

English Standard Version

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have ^(A)prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, ^(B)so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ^3 (C)If I give away all I have, and ^(D)if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

^4 (E)Love is patient and ^(F)kind; love ^(G)does not envy or boast; it ^(H)is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It ^(I)does not insist on its own way; it ^(J)is not irritable or resentful;^{[b] 6} it ^(K)does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but ^(L)rejoices with the truth. ^7 (M)Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, ^(N)endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For ^(O)we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but ^(P)when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹² For ^(Q)now we see in a mirror dimly, but ^(R)then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as ^(S)I have been fully known.

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Prophecy and Tongues

14 ^(T)Pursue love, and ^(U)earnestly desire the ^(V)spiritual gifts, especially that you may ^(W)prophesy. ² For ^(X)one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. ³ On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. ⁴ The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. ⁵ Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but ^(Y)even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

⁶ Now, brothers,^[c] if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some ^(Z)revelation or knowledge or prophecy or ^(AA)teaching? ⁷ If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? ⁸ And ^(AB)if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be ^(AC)speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, ¹¹ but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be ^(AD)a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. ¹² So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

¹³ Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; ^(AE)I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will ^(AF)sing with my mind also. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider^[d] say ^(AG)“Amen” to ^(AH)your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰ Brothers, ^(AI)do not be children in your thinking. ^(AJ)Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be ^(AK)mature. ^21 (AL)In the Law it is written, ^(AM)“By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” ²² Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign^[e] not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, ^(AN)will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, ^25 (AO)the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, ^(AP)falling on his face, he will worship God and ^(AQ)declare that God is really among you.

Orderly Worship

²⁶ What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has ^(AR)a hymn, ^(AS)a lesson, ^(AT)a revelation, ^(AU)a tongue, or ^(AV)an interpretation. ^(AW)Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷ If any speak in ^(AX)a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others ^(AY)weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, ^(AZ)let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of ^(BA)confusion but of peace.

As in ^(BB)all the churches of the saints, ^34 (BC)the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but ^(BD)should be in submission, as ^(BE)the Law also says. ³⁵ If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ^37 (BF)If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹ So, my brothers, ^(BG)earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ^40 (BH)But all things should be done decently and ^(BI)in order.

The Resurrection of Christ

15 Now I would remind you, brothers,^[f] of the gospel ^(BJ)I preached to you, which you received, ^(BK)in which you stand, ² and by which ^(BL)you are being saved, if you ^(BM)hold fast to the word I preached to you—^(BN)unless you believed in vain.

³ For ^(BO)I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died ^(BP)for our sins ^(BQ)in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised ^(BR)on the third day ^(BS)in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that ^(BT)he appeared to Cephas, then ^(BU)to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to ^(BV)James, then ^(BW)to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, ^(BX)he appeared also to me. ⁹ For ^(BY)I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because ^(BZ)I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, ^(CA)I worked harder than any of them, ^(CB)though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, ^(CC)how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, ^(CD)then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that ^(CE)he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and ^(CF)you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who ^(CG)have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope^[g] in this life only, ^(CH)we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact ^(CI)Christ has been raised from the dead, ^(CJ)the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as ^(CK)by a man came death, ^(CL)by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For ^(CM)as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then ^(CN)at his coming ^(CO)those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers ^(CP)the kingdom to God the Father after destroying ^(CQ)every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign ^(CR)until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be ^(CS)destroyed is death. ²⁷ For ^(CT)“God^[h] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. ²⁸ When ^(CU)all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that ^(CV)God may be all in all.

²⁹ Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? ³⁰ Why are we ^(CW)in danger every hour? ³¹ I protest, brothers, by ^(CX)my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, ^(CY)I die every day! ³² What do I gain if, humanly speaking, ^(CZ)I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ^(DA)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ^33 (DB)Do not be deceived: ^(DC)“Bad company ruins good morals.”^{[i] 34 (DD)}Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For ^(DE)some have no knowledge of God. ^(DF)I say this to your shame.

The Resurrection Body

³⁵ But someone will ask, ^(DG)“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶ You foolish person! ^(DH)What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹ For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰ There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

^42 (DI)So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; ^(DJ)it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ Thus it is written, ^(DK)“The first man Adam became a living being”;^{[j] (DL)}the last Adam became a ^(DM)life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ^47 (DN)The first man was from the earth, ^(DO)a man of dust; ^(DP)the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, ^(DQ)so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just ^(DR)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, ^(DS)we shall^[k] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: ^(DT)flesh and blood ^(DU)cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. ^(DV)We shall not all sleep, ^(DW)but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For ^(DX)the trumpet will sound, and ^(DY)the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and ^(DZ)this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^(EC)the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, ^(ED)who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (EE)Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in ^(EF)the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord ^(EG)your labor is not in vain.