Memorize 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Free Bible Version

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. Love is not boastful. Love is not proud. Love does not act improperly, or insist on having its own way. Love is not argumentative and doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Love takes no delight in evil but celebrates the truth. Love never gives up, keeps on trusting, stays confident, and remains patient whatever happens.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Free Bible Version

64 words · worth a week or two, built up phrase by phrase ·

Start memorizing 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 →

Free, no account, nothing to install. The path opens with this verse already in it. Or print it: a copywork sheet to write it out by hand, a sheet of wallet cards, take-home slips or bulletin cards for a church's verse of the week, each with a code back to this page.

The five steps

  1. Meet the verse. Hear it read aloud, then echo it phrase by phrase, with a small hand motion for each phrase.
  2. Fill the gaps. About a third of the words become blanks. Say it out loud, supplying them; peek if you need to, trying is the point.
  3. Half hidden. Most of the words are gone now. Say it once more at bedtime; sleep locks it in overnight.
  4. First letters. Every word reduced to its first letter. Recite it with only those to guide you.
  5. All by yourself. Nothing but the reference. One confident recite, then it goes into your Verse Book to come back for review.

Each step makes a fine "tonight's step" spread over five days, and nothing is locked: the numbered dots jump anywhere. How to memorize Bible verses walks through the whole method.

Why it works

Three of the most replicated findings in learning science: retrieval practice (pulling a word from memory strengthens it more than rereading it), spacing (short tries on separate days beat one long one), and sleep (a verse said at bedtime is consolidated overnight). The blanks grow in stages so that every try is hard enough to count and never so hard that you give up.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in context

Even extraordinary speech, knowledge, faith, and generosity amount to nothing without love. Love acts patiently and selflessly, endures beyond partial gifts, and moves believers from dim perception toward mature, lasting knowledge.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in its chapter · 1 Corinthians 13, in the Free Bible Version.

Verses that keep it company

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is on Bible verses about love.

In other translations

BSB · Berean Standard BibleKJV · King James VersionNET · New English TranslationWEB · World English BibleESV · English Standard VersionASV · American Standard (1901)YLT · Young's Literal Translation

The reference is the same in every one; the path lets you switch mid-way, and pasting any wording you like works too.

Copyright © 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Supplied unaltered through eBible.org. Text unchanged, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.