What does 1 Corinthians 13:8 mean?
"Charity never faileth" is the climax of Paul's description: love never comes to an end. Paul then compares it with the spiritual gifts the Corinthians prized so highly. Prophecy, speaking in tongues, and special knowledge are valuable, but they are temporary, given for this present age. They will one day "fail," "cease," and "vanish away," because when God's kingdom fully comes they will no longer be needed. Love is different. It belongs to eternity, because God himself is love. Paul's point is about priorities: the gifts that impressed people mattered less than the love that will outlast them all. Love is the one thing we will carry into forever.
1 Corinthians 13:8 in the King James Version
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Context
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
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Frequently asked questions
What does 1 Corinthians 13:8 mean?
"Charity never faileth" is the climax of Paul's description: love never comes to an end. Paul then compares it with the spiritual gifts the Corinthians prized so highly. Prophecy, speaking in tongues, and special knowledge are valuable, but they are temporary, given for this present age. They will one day "fail," "cease," and "vanish away," because when God's kingdom fully comes they will no longer be needed. Love is different. It belongs to eternity, because God himself is love. Paul's point is about priorities: the gifts that impressed people mattered less than the love that will outlast them all. Love is the one thing we will carry into forever.
What does 1 Corinthians 13:8 say in the KJV?
1 Corinthians 13:8 (KJV) reads: “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”