1 I f I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

SI yo hablase lenguas humanas y angélicas, y no tengo caridad, vengo á ser como metal que resuena, ó címbalo que retiñe.

2 A nd if I have prophetic powers ( the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God’s love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody).

Y si tuviese profecía, y entendiese todos los misterios y toda ciencia; y si tuviese toda la fe, de tal manera que traspasase los montes, y no tengo caridad, nada soy.

3 E ven if I dole out all that I have food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing.

Y si repartiese toda mi hacienda para dar de comer a pobres, y si entregase mi cuerpo para ser quemado, y no tengo caridad, de nada me sirve.

4 L ove endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

La caridad es sufrida, es benigna; la caridad no tiene envidia, la caridad no hace sinrazón, no se ensancha;

5 I t is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it.

No es injuriosa, no busca lo suyo, no se irrita, no piensa el mal;

6 I t does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

No se huelga de la injusticia, mas se huelga de la verdad;

7 L ove bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything.

Todo lo sufre, todo lo cree, todo lo espera, todo lo soporta.

8 L ove never fails. As for prophecy ( the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

La caridad nunca deja de ser: mas las profecías se han de acabar, y cesarán las lenguas, y la ciencia ha de ser quitada;

9 F or our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).

Porque en parte conocemos, y en parte profetizamos;

10 B ut when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).

Mas cuando venga lo que es perfecto, entonces lo que es en parte será quitado.

11 W hen I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

Cuando yo era niño, hablaba como niño, pensaba como niño, juzgaba como niño, mas cuando ya fuí hombre hecho, dejé lo que era de niño.

12 F or now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection '> in a riddle or enigma], but then we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood '> by God].

Ahora vemos por espejo, en obscuridad; mas entonces veremos cara á cara: ahora conozco en parte; mas entonces conoceré como soy conocido.

13 A nd so faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Y ahora permanecen la fe, la esperanza, y la caridad, estas tres: empero la mayor de ellas es la caridad.