1 Corinthians 13:1 (LSB)

Passage

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong 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 do not have love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "speak", "tongues", "angels", "love", "become", "noisy", "gong", 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.