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OET (OET-LV) But right_now is_remaining faith, hope, love, the three things these, and greater of_these is the love.
OET (OET-RV) But for now, these three continue: faith, hope, and love, but love is the greatest one of those.
In this section Paul talked about the importance of love. He described how a person who loves will behave toward others. He concluded that love is more important than any of the spiritual gifts. One day all the spiritual gifts will cease, but love will never cease.
Here are some other possible section headings:
Love
Paul urged believers to act in love
The way of love
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love;
And now these three qualities endure: faith, hope, and love.
And now there are three things that we must continue to do. We must believe God, hope in God, and love God and others.
And now: These words mark what follows as a final summary of both paragraph 13:8–12 and of section 13:1–12.
these three remain: There are two ways to interpret the meaning of the verb remain:
It means that these three things will remain forever. For example:
So these three things continue forever (NCV) (NCV, REB, NLT)
It means that these three things remain in existence at the present time. For example:
Meanwhile these three remain (GNT) (GNT)
Many English versions (such as the BSB) translate this in a way that allows both interpretations. If you must choose one interpretation, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). There is stronger support for it in the commentaries.See for example Fee p. 651, and Morris p. 184.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
endure/stay/stand
there are three things we will continue to do
these three: Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
these three things
these three qualities/virtues
faith, hope, and love: In some languages it may be natural to translate these abstract nouns as verbs. It may also be necessary to supply objects.
Here are some other ways to translate these words:
trust God, hope in God, and love God and others
we will believe, we will hope, we will love
but the greatest of these is love.
But the most important of the three is love.
But to love God and others is the most important.
but the greatest of these is love: This states that love is greater than faith or hope. We will continue to love God and others for all eternity.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
but of these three, the biggest is love
but of these three, the most important is that we love each other
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
νυνὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: νυνί Δέ μένει πίστις ἐλπίς ἀγάπη τά τρία ταῦτα μείζων δέ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη)
Here, now could function to: (1) introduce a summary statement about how things are. Alternate translation: [as it is,] (2) give the time during which these three remain. Alternate translation: [in the present,]
μένει & τὰ τρία ταῦτα
˓is˒_remaining & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: νυνί Δέ μένει πίστις ἐλπίς ἀγάπη τά τρία ταῦτα μείζων δέ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη)
This could indicate that: (1) these three will remain forever, even after Jesus comes back, in contrast to prophecies, tongues, and knowledge in [13:8](../13/08.md), which will “pass away.” Alternate translation: [these three will never pass away] (2) these three remain in the present life of believers. Alternate translation: [these three continue on]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure
μένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη, τὰ τρία ταῦτα
˓is˒_remaining faith hope love (Some words not found in SR-GNT: νυνί Δέ μένει πίστις ἐλπίς ἀγάπη τά τρία ταῦτα μείζων δέ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη)
Here Paul introduces these three and then goes on to name them at the end of the sentence. If it would be helpful in your language, you could rearrange pieces of the sentence. Alternate translation: [faith, hope, and love remain, these three] or [three things, faith, hope, and love, remain]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη
faith hope love
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas behind faith, hope, and love, you can express ideas by using verbs. If you do so, you may need to specify objects for those verbs. Paul implies that faith is in God, hope is in what God has promised, and love is for God and others. Alternate translation: [trusting in God, hopefully waiting for God to act for us, and loving people and God]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη
faith hope love
Here Paul simply lists the three things without using connecting words. Since English speakers expect a connecting word before the last item in a list, the ULT has included and here. If your readers would also expect one or several connecting words in a list, you could include them. Alternate translation: [faith and hope and love]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
μείζων & τούτων
greater & ˱of˲_these_‹is›
Here Paul does not explicitly say why love is the greatest. He could imply that: (1) loving God and others is the most important thing to do. Alternate translation: [the most significant of these] (2) love is the only one of the three that continues after Jesus comes back, and so it is the only one that lasts. Alternate translation: [the most enduring of these]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἡ ἀγάπη
¬the love
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind love, you can express the idea by using a verb such as “love.” Paul implies that the love is for God and others. Alternate translation: [is loving people and God]
OET (OET-LV) But right_now is_remaining faith, hope, love, the three things these, and greater of_these is the love.
OET (OET-RV) But for now, these three continue: faith, hope, and love, but love is the greatest one of those.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.