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. 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. 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.
Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three. The greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13, World English Bible Updated edition, which is in the public domain. The one change on this page and in the booklet: the in verse 13 the dash before "these three" is printed as a comma.
Which funeral services use it
- Catholic, US (Lectionary for Masses for the Dead): not on the list.
- Catholic, England and Wales (Order of Christian Funerals): not on the list.
- Church of England (Common Worship funeral readings): Only in the list suggested for the funeral of a child (13.1-end).
- Shown among popular choices on the Church of England's own funeral planning page.
The Church of England’s own funeral planning page shows it among popular choices.
Where it comes in the service
It is not one of the Catholic funeral readings. In a Church of England funeral the Bible readings come in the readings and sermon part of the service.
Add 1 Corinthians 13 to your booklet, typeset in full, with the order of service around it. You can see the whole booklet before paying anything.
Put 1 Corinthians 13 in my bookletAbout this translation
The words here are the World English Bible, a modern English translation whose translators dedicated it to the public domain, so it can be printed in a booklet in the US and the UK without permission or a fee. The King James Version is public domain in the US but is covered by Crown letters patent in the UK, which is why it is not used here. If your church prefers another translation, add it in step 5 with "Use your own words".
Funeral lists checked on September 28, 2026 against the USCCB, the Liturgy Office of England and Wales and the Church of England's Common Worship pages.