❧The .xiij. Chapter.
1 Because loue is the fountayne and rule of edifiyng the Churche, he setteth foorth the nature, office, and prayse therof.
[unspec A] 1 THough I speake with the tongues of men and of (a) Angels, and haue not loue, I am [as] soundyng brasse, or [as] a tincklyng Cimball:
2 And though I coulde prophesie, and vnderstoode all secretes, and all knowledge: Yea, ☞ if I had all fayth, so that I coulde moue moun∣taynes out of their places, and haue not loue, I were nothyng.
3 And though I bestowe all my goodes to feede the poore, and though I geue my body that I burned, and haue not loue, it profiteth me nothyng.
[unspec B] 4 Loue suffreth long, and is curteous: Loue enuieth not, loue doth not fro∣wardely, swelleth not,
5 Dealeth not dishonestlie, seeketh not her owne, is not prouoked to anger, thynketh none euyll,
6 Reioyceth not in iniquitie: but reioy∣ceth in the trueth:
7 Suffreth all thynges, beleueth all thynges, hopeth all thynges, endureth all thynges.
8 Though ye prophesiynges fayle, other tongues ceasse, or knowledge vanishe away, [yet] loue falleth neuer away.
9 ☞For our knowledge is vnperfect, [unspec C] and our prophesiyng is vnperfect:
10 But when that which is perfect, is come, then that which is vnperfect shal∣be done away.
11 When I was a chylde, I spake as a childe, I vnderstode as a childe, I ima∣gined as a chylde: But assoone as I was a man, I put away chyldishnesse.
12 Nowe we see in a (b) glasse, euen in a darke speakyng: but then [shall we see] face to face. Nowe I knowe vnper∣fectly: but then shall I knowe euen as I am knowen.
13 Nowe abydeth fayth, hope, and loue, these three, but the chiefe of these is loue.