1 Corinthians 13:3
New International Version
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

New Living Translation
If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

English Standard Version
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Berean Standard Bible
If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Berean Literal Bible
And if I may give away all my possessions, and I may deliver up my body that I may boast, but have not love, I am profited nothing.

King James Bible
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

New King James Version
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

New American Standard Bible
And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.

NASB 1995
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.

NASB 1977
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Legacy Standard Bible
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.

Amplified Bible
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 does me no good at all.

Christian Standard Bible
And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And if I should feed everything that I have to the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned up and I have no love in me, I gain nothing.

Contemporary English Version
What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive? I would gain nothing, unless I loved others.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don't have love, none of these things will help me.

Good News Translation
I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned--but if I have no love, this does me no good.

International Standard Version
Even if I give away everything that I have and sacrifice myself, but have no love, I gain nothing.

Literal Standard Version
and if I give away all my goods to feed others, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and do not have love, I am profited nothing.

Majority Standard Bible
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

New American Bible
If 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.

NET Bible
If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.

New Revised Standard Version
If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

New Heart English Bible
If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Webster's Bible Translation
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Weymouth New Testament
And if I distribute all my possessions to the poor, and give up my body to be burned, but am destitute of Love, it profits me nothing.

World English Bible
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.

Young's Literal Translation
and if I give away to feed others all my goods, and if I give up my body that I may be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Love
2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.…

Cross References
Daniel 3:28
Nebuchadnezzar declared, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king's command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Matthew 6:2
So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.


Treasury of Scripture

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing.

though I bestow.

Matthew 6:1-4
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven…

Matthew 23:5
But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

Luke 18:22,28
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me…

though I give.

Daniel 3:16-28
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter…

Matthew 7:22,23
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? …

John 13:37
Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

profiteth.

Isaiah 57:12
I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.

Jeremiah 7:8
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

John 6:63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Jump to Previous
Bestow Body Burned Charity Deliver Destitute Distribute Dole Feed Flames Food Gain Goods Love Others Poor Possess Possessions Profit Profited Profiteth Profits Surrender
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Bestow Body Burned Charity Deliver Destitute Distribute Dole Feed Flames Food Gain Goods Love Others Poor Possess Possessions Profit Profited Profiteth Profits Surrender
1 Corinthians 13
1. All gifts,
3. however excellent, are of no worth without love.
4. The praises thereof,
13. as love is greatest before hope and faith.














(3) Bestow all my goods.--The Greek word literally means to feed others by giving them morsels of food, and so we have the thought of a charity extensive in its diffusion, as well as complete in its self-sacrifice. The whole of the bestower's property given in charity, and so divided as to reach the largest number.

I give my body to be burned.--A still greater proof of devotion to some person or cause, is the sacrifice of life; yet even that may be without love. A strange reading has crept into some MSS.--"that I may boast"--which would make the passage mean that a man gave his body to some torture from a wrong motive, viz., vain-glory. But this would weaken the force of the passage. What renders the self-sacrifice valueless is not a wrong cause, but the absence of love as the motive power. Although burning was not a form of martyrdom at this time, yet such histories as that of the three children in Daniel 3:19 would make the expression intelligible and forcible.

These words are historically interesting to the English Church. They formed the text from which Dr. Smith preached at the martyrdom of Latimer and Ridley!

Verse 3. - And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. The five words, "bestow to feed the poor," represent the one Greek word psomiso, and after all do not give its force. It is derived from psomion, a mouthful, and so means "give away by mouthfuls," i.e. "dole away." It occurs in Romans 12:20 for "feed." Attention to this verse might have served as a warning against the often useless and sometimes even pernicious doles of mediaeval monasteries. Much of the "charity" of these days is even more uncharitable than this, and shows the most complete absence of true charity; as for instance the dropping of pennies to professional beggars, and so putting a premium on vice and imposture. To be burned. The reading is extremely uncertain. The change of a letter gives the reading, that I may glory (καυχήσωμαι for καυθήσωμαι). Perhaps the scribes thought that "death by burning" was as yet (A.D. 57) an unheard of form of martyrdom, though it became but too familiar ten or twelve years later in the Neronian persecution. St. Paul was, however, probably referring, not, as some have supposed, to branding, which would bare been expressed differently, but to the case of the "three children," in Daniel 3:23, where the LXX. has, "They gave their bodies into the fire;" or to the various tortures and deaths by fire in 2 Macc. 7. At the burning of Ridley and Latimer, Dr. Smith chose this verse for his text. Its applicability is on a par with millions of other instances in which Scripture has been grossly abused by employing its letter to murder its spirit, and by taking it from the God of love to give it to the devil of religious hatred. The burning of a saint was a singular specimen of the Church's "love." It profiteth me nothing; literally, I am nothing benefited. A consideration of this verse might have shown the Christians of the early centuries that there was nothing intrinsically redemptive in the martyrdom into which they often thrust themselves.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
If
ἐὰν (ean)
Conjunction
Strong's 1437: If. From ei and an; a conditional particle; in case that, provided, etc.

I give
ψωμίσω (psōmisō)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 5595: To feed, dole out. From the base of psomion; to supply with bits, i.e. to nourish.

all
πάντα (panta)
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.

I
μου (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

possess {to the poor}
ὑπάρχοντά (hyparchonta)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 5225: To begin, am, exist, be in possession. From hupo and archomai; to begin under, i.e. Come into existence; expletively, to exist (verb).

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

exult
καυχήσωμαι (kauchēsōmai)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2744: To boast; I glory (exult) proudly. From some base akin to that of aucheo and euchomai; to vaunt.

in the surrender
παραδῶ (paradō)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3860: From para and didomi; to surrender, i.e yield up, intrust, transmit.

of my
μου (mou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

body,
σῶμά (sōma)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983: Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.

but
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

have
ἔχω (echō)
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

not
μὴ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

love,
ἀγάπην (agapēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 26: From agapao; love, i.e. Affection or benevolence; specially a love-feast.

I gain
ὠφελοῦμαι (ōpheloumai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 5623: To help, benefit, do good, be useful (to), profit. From the same as opheleia; to be useful, i.e. To benefit.

nothing.
οὐδὲν (ouden)
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3762: No one, none, nothing.


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NT Letters: 1 Corinthians 13:3 If I dole out all my goods (1 Cor. 1C iC 1Cor i cor icor)
1 Corinthians 13:2
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