from Biblica1Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings or of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal.2Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all.3Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give myself over to a difficult life so I can boast. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all.4Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not boast. It is not proud.5It does not dishonour other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs.6Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken.7It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up.8Love never fails. But prophecy will pass away. Speaking in languages that had not been known before will end. And knowledge will pass away.9What we know now is not complete. What we prophesy now is not perfect.10But when what is complete comes, the things that are not complete will pass away.11When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I had the understanding of a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.12Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a foggy mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely.13The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.
1 Corinthians 13
Nuova Riveduta 2006
from Società Biblica di Ginevra
L’eccellenza dell’amore
1Se parlassi le lingue degli uomini e degli angeli, ma non avessi amore, sarei un rame risonante o uno squillante cembalo.2Se avessi il dono di profezia e conoscessi tutti i misteri e tutta la scienza e avessi tutta la fede in modo da spostare i monti, ma non avessi amore, non sarei nulla.3Se distribuissi tutti i miei beni per nutrire i poveri, se dessi il mio corpo a essere arso, e non avessi amore, non mi gioverebbe a niente.4L’amore è paziente, è benevolo; l’amore non invidia; {l’amore} non si vanta, non si gonfia,5non si comporta in modo sconveniente, non cerca il proprio interesse, non s’inasprisce, non addebita il male,6non gode dell’ingiustizia, ma gioisce con la verità;7soffre ogni cosa, crede ogni cosa, spera ogni cosa, sopporta ogni cosa.8L’amore non verrà mai meno. Le profezie verranno abolite; le lingue cesseranno e la conoscenza verrà abolita,9poiché noi conosciamo in parte, e in parte profetizziamo;10ma quando la perfezione sarà venuta, quello che è solo in parte sarà abolito.11Quando ero bambino, parlavo da bambino, pensavo da bambino, ragionavo da bambino; ma quando sono diventato uomo, ho smesso le cose da bambino.12Poiché ora vediamo come in uno specchio[1], in modo oscuro; ma allora vedremo faccia a faccia; ora conosco in parte; ma allora conoscerò pienamente, come anche sono stato perfettamente conosciuto.13Ora dunque queste tre cose durano: fede, speranza, amore; ma la più grande di esse è l’amore.