Love endures all things,Love endures to the end,
The hatred of a foe, the betrayal of a friend...
Endures misunderstanding, Love waits and suffers long,
Endures loss of all the things that unto Love belong.
Love endures abuse, the unkind words where strife begins;
Love forgives and covers a great multitude of sins.
Through every fire Love endures, emerging purer still,
In its ardor yearning for some empty heart to fill.
Love endures the bonds, the chains, Love does not despair,
Prisoner only to the God that let men put them there.
Love endures darkness, knowing when it too has gone,
Love's hope and Love's fulfillment will become the promised dawn.
Love endures in quiet trust the woundings and the pain,
And though its blood be freshly spilled, it seeks to love again.
Love endures and will endure, for Love is God's own breath;
In triumph Love endures all, for Love is strong as Death.