1 Corinthians 12–13

Spiritual Gifts

12Now ^mconcerning¹ spiritual gifts,² brothers,³ I do not want you to be uninformed. ²You know that ⁿwhen you were pagans ^oyou were led astray to ^pmute idols, however you were led. ³Therefore I want you to understand that ^qno one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is ^raccursed!” and ^sno one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

⁴Now ^tthere are varieties of gifts, but ^uthe same Spirit; ⁵and ^vthere are varieties of service, but ^uthe same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is ^uthe same God who empowers them all in everyone. ^7wTo each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of ^xwisdom, and to another the utterance of ^yknowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another ^zfaith by the same Spirit, to another ^agifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another ^bthe working of miracles, to another ^cprophecy, to another ^dthe ability to distinguish between spirits, to another ^evarious kinds of tongues, to another ^fthe interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, ^gwho apportions to each one individually ^has he wills.

One Body with Many Members

¹²For just as ⁱthe body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, ^jso it is with Christ. ¹³For ^kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—^lJews or Greeks, slaves⁴ or free—and ^mall were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸But as it is, ⁿGod arranged the members in the body, each one of them, ^oas he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts,⁵ yet one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, ^pall rejoice together.

²⁷Now ^qyou are the body of Christ and individually ^rmembers of it. ²⁸And ^sGod has appointed in the church first ^tapostles, second ^uprophets, third teachers, then ^vmiracles, then ^wgifts of healing, ^xhelping, ^yadministrating, and ^vvarious kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But ^zearnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Way of Love

13If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have ^aprophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, ^bso as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ^3cIf I give away all I have, and ^dif I deliver up my body to be burned,¹ but have not love, I gain nothing.

^4eLove is patient and ^fkind; love ^gdoes not envy or boast; it ^his not arrogant ⁵or rude. It ⁱdoes not insist on its own way; it ^jis not irritable or resentful;^{2 6}it ^kdoes not rejoice at wrongdoing, but ^lrejoices with the truth. ^7mLove bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, ^eendures all things.

⁸Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For ⁿwe know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but ^owhen the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹When 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. ¹²For ^pnow we see in a mirror dimly, but ^qthen face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as ^rI have been fully known.

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