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.

Warning Against Idolatry

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[a] that our fathers were all under ^(A)the cloud, and all ^(B)passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and ^(C)all ate the same ^(D)spiritual food, ⁴ and ^(E)all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for ^(F)they were overthrown^[b] in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as ^(G)they did. ^7 (H)Do not be idolaters ^(I)as some of them were; as it is written, ^(J)“The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” ^8 (K)We must not indulge in sexual immorality ^(L)as some of them did, and ^(M)twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹ We must not put Christ^[c] to the test, ^(N)as some of them did and ^(O)were destroyed by serpents, ¹⁰ nor grumble, ^(P)as some of them did and ^(Q)were destroyed by ^(R)the Destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, but ^(S)they were written down for our instruction, ^(T)on whom the end of the ages has come. ¹² Therefore ^(U)let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. ^(V)God is faithful, and ^(W)he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, ^(X)flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak ^(Y)as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ^16 (Z)The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? ^(AA)The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are ^(AB)one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸ Consider ^(AC)the people of Israel:^{[d] (AD)}are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? ¹⁹ What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that ^(AE)an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice ^(AF)they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. ^21 (AG)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and ^(AH)the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and ^(AI)the table of demons. ^22 (AJ)Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? ^(AK)Are we stronger than he?

Do All to the Glory of God

^23 (AL)“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ^24 (AM)Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. ^25 (AN)Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁶ For ^(AO)“the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” ²⁷ If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, ^(AP)eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁸ But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— ²⁹ I do not mean ^(AQ)your conscience, but his. For ^(AR)why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? ³⁰ If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that ^(AS)for which I give thanks?

³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or ^(AT)whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ^32 (AU)Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to ^(AV)the church of God, ³³ just as ^(AW)I try to please everyone in everything I do, ^(AX)not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

The Example of Christ

15 ^(A)We who are strong ^(B)have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ^2 (C)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³ For ^(D)Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ^(E)“The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” ⁴ For ^(F)whatever was written in former days was written for our ^(G)instruction, that through endurance and through ^(H)the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you ^(I)to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify ^(J)the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

⁸ For I tell you that Christ ^(K)became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order ^(L)to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹ and in order ^(M)that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

¹⁰ And again it is said,

¹¹ And again,

¹² And again Isaiah says,

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all ^(T)joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

^14 (U)I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers,^[a] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with ^(V)all knowledge and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵ But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, ^(W)because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶ to be ^(X)a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles ^(Y)in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that ^(Z)the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ In Christ Jesus, then, I have ^(AA)reason to be proud of ^(AB)my work for God. ¹⁸ For I will not venture to speak of anything except ^(AC)what Christ has accomplished through me ^(AD)to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, ^19 (AE)by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that ^(AF)from Jerusalem and all the way around ^(AG)to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; ²⁰ and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, ^(AH)lest I build on someone else's foundation, ²¹ but as it is written,

Paul's Plan to Visit Rome

²² This is the reason why ^(AJ)I have so often been hindered from coming to you. ²³ But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and ^(AK)since I have longed for many years to come to you, ²⁴ I hope to see you in passing as I go ^(AL)to Spain, and ^(AM)to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. ²⁵ At present, however, ^(AN)I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. ²⁶ For ^(AO)Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. ²⁷ For they were pleased to do it, and indeed ^(AP)they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. ²⁸ When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected,^[b] I will leave ^(AQ)for Spain by way of you. ²⁹ I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing^[c] of Christ.

³⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by ^(AR)the love of the Spirit, ^(AS)to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, ^31 (AT)that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that ^(AU)my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, ³² so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and ^(AV)be refreshed in your company. ³³ May ^(AW)the God of peace be with you all. Amen.