September 16, 2026

31Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts. The Way of Love. But I shall show you a still more excellent way. 1If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 2And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, 5it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, 6it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. 9For we know partially and we prophesy partially, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. 13So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

2Give thanks to the LORD on the harp; on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise. 3Sing to him a new song; skillfully play with joyful chant. 4For the LORD’s word is upright; all his works are trustworthy. 5He loves justice and right. The earth is full of the mercy of the LORD. 12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people chosen as his inheritance. 22May your mercy, LORD, be upon us; as we put our hope in you.

63It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 68Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

31“Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’ 33For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ 35But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” The Pardon of the Sinful Woman.