1 Corinthians 13:1 (ASV)

Passage

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:2 And 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 have not love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:3 And if I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "speak", "tongues", "angels", "love", "become", "sounding", "brass", and "clanging". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "speak" and "tongues", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "And if I have the gift of...", so "speak" and "tongues" should be read forward into that movement. In 1 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "speak" and "tongues" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.