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1 Corinthians 13:8

1 Corinthians 13:8 Bible Verse: Text, Meaning, and Context

1 Corinthians 13:8 states that love does not fail, while other gifts such as prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are temporary. In Paul's teaching, love is shown as the lasting mark of Christian life and the measure of all spiritual gifts.

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What happens in 1 Corinthians 13:8?

In this verse, Paul draws a sharp contrast between love and certain spiritual gifts. Love is presented as enduring and dependable, while prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are described as limited and passing. The point is not to dismiss these gifts, but to show their place in a larger picture. They belong to the present age and will not remain forever. Love, by contrast, continues. The surrounding verses explain that our current understanding is partial and will give way to something fuller.

This verse sits in the middle of Paul's famous chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He has been correcting the Corinthian church about spiritual gifts and how they should be used. In the verses around 13:8, he describes the character of love and then shows that gifts are temporary compared with the lasting nature of love.

Themes to notice

  • Lasting lovePaul presents love as something that remains when other things have passed away.
  • Temporary giftsProphecy, tongues, and knowledge are valuable but limited and not final.
  • Spiritual maturityThe verse points readers toward what endures and what belongs to an incomplete stage.

Questions for 1 Corinthians 13:8

  • What does it mean that love never fails in daily Christian life?
  • Why does Paul contrast love with prophecy, tongues, and knowledge?
  • How does this verse change the way you think about spiritual gifts and maturity?

Read the full text of 1 Corinthians 13:8 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

1 Corinthians 13

5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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.9For we know in part and we prophesy in part,10but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways.

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