If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.
Parallel translations
- WEB If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
- NASB If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
- NLT If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Even speaking in human or angelic tongues without love is mere noise. Love, not eloquence, gives speech its worth.
Overview
Paul opens his great chapter on love by addressing the gift the Corinthians prized most. Without love, even the most impressive speech is empty clamor like a gong or cymbal. This sets the theme: spiritual gifts are worthless apart from the love that should animate them, the love supremely shown in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Tim 1:5The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
- 1 Pet 4:8Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
- Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- 1 Cor 13:8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed.
- Gal 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.
- 1 Cor 13:2–3If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
- 1 Cor 8:1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
- 2 Pet 2:18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- Matt 25:45Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’
- 1 Cor 14:6–8Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
- Rom 14:15If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.
- 1 Cor 12:8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,
- 1 Cor 12:29–30Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
- 1 Cor 12:16And 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.
- 2 Cor 12:4was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were too sacred for words, things that man is not permitted to tell.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 13:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.