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1 Corinthians 13 Bible study: The greatest of these is love

1 Corinthians 13 says "but don’t have love" in each of its first three verses (13:1-3). It says love "believes all things, hopes all things" (13:7), and it ends by naming "faith, hope, and love" as the three that remain (13:13).

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“But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 · World English Bible

Try it · Did you catch it?

“1 Corinthians 13:1 says, "but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."”

Is that in 1 Corinthians 13, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

If I, but without love

In the text

The chapter opens: "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." (13:1) (tap love, cymbal). "If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing." (13:2). "If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing." (13:3). These verses name what they name in their own words, and these notes say no more about any of it than those words do. The I of these verses is the letter's I: the letter opens with two senders (1:1), and these notes say no more about who speaks than the chapter does.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about 1 Corinthians 13

That was a taste

The rest of 1 Corinthians 13 is waiting in Favor

  • Love is patient
  • Love never fails
  • No line lands here
  • Faith, hope and love together
  • 11 questions as you read
  • 10 more Greek words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Greek word behind it

ἀγάπηagapesay ag-AH-pay

Strong's: "love, i.e. affection or benevolence". "If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love" (13:1). Favor's 1 Corinthians 8 studies the noun and counts it in the letter and in this chapter. Galatians names it first in a list: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith," (Galatians 5:22).

For your group

1 Corinthians 13 Bible study questions

  1. 1"If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing." (13:3). Why do you think the chapter says that even giving like this profits nothing without love?
  2. 2"Love is patient and is kind." (13:4). Where have you seen love like this in someone's life? What did it show you?
  3. 3"But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love." (13:13). What do you make of the chapter ending by naming love the greatest of the three?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 1 Corinthians 13 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home