Wedding reading
1 Corinthians 13:4–8a
King James Bible
“1 Corinthians 13:4–8a” by King James Bible is a scripture reading read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about 45 seconds read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
The short form — the one most people mean by "the love passage".
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: love · patience · kindness · endurance · the most requested wedding reading.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “1 Corinthians 13:4–8a” take to read aloud?
“1 Corinthians 13:4–8a” takes about 45 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “1 Corinthians 13:4–8a”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “1 Corinthians 13:4–8a” runs about 45 seconds, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “1 Corinthians 13:4–8a” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.