“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” — the “Love Chapter,” walked through verse by verse.
1 Corinthians 13 sits in the middle of a longer discussion (chapters 12–14) about spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church — a congregation Paul repeatedly corrects for division and self-importance, including pride over which gifts members had. Rather than ranking gifts against each other, Paul interrupts to argue that without love, even the most impressive spiritual gifts are worthless.
Because of its content, not its original context, the chapter has become one of the most requested readings at weddings — even though Paul wrote it to a quarreling church, not a couple.
1 Corinthians 13, King James Version — read start to finish before the breakdown below.
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.
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.
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.
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;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 13:1–13, King James Version
The King James Version uses “charity” where most modern translations say “love” — both translate the same Greek word, agape.
"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… and have not charity, I am nothing."1 Corinthians 13:1–3, King James Version
Paul names the most impressive spiritual gifts and achievements he can think of — eloquence, prophecy, total understanding, world-moving faith, radical generosity — and says each one amounts to nothing without love. The comparison to noisy, empty instruments would have landed hard on a church proud of its spiritual displays.
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up… Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."1 Corinthians 13:4–7, King James Version
Rather than defining love abstractly, Paul lists it as a series of actions and postures — patient, kind, not jealous or arrogant, not self-seeking or easily angered. Every quality named here directly answers a specific problem Paul had already confronted this same church about earlier in the letter.
"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."1 Corinthians 13:8, King James Version
Paul returns to the gifts named at the start of the chapter — prophecy, tongues, knowledge — and says they're temporary by nature, while love has no expiration point.
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part… When I was a child, I spake as a child… for now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face."1 Corinthians 13:9–12, King James Version
Paul compares present spiritual knowledge to the limited understanding of a child, and to a dim, distorted reflection in an ancient mirror (polished metal, not glass) — both images pointing to a future clarity that hasn't arrived yet.
"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."1 Corinthians 13:13, King James Version
The chapter's closing line and its most quoted — naming three things that endure (unlike the temporary gifts of verse 8) and ranking love above even faith and hope.
Its poetic list of what love does and doesn't do makes it a wedding staple, even though Paul wrote it to correct a divided, competitive church, not to describe romance.
The KJV's word “charity” came from the Latin caritas and, in 1611, carried a broader meaning than the modern, narrower sense of charitable giving — most later translations use “love” to avoid that confusion.
The original context is Paul telling gifted, competitive believers that their most spectacular abilities mean nothing without love — a pointed correction, not a poem written for its own sake.