Black script tattoo of 1 Corinthians 13:13 across the side of a torso, in a fine handwritten lettering style.

1 Corinthians 13:13 verse in script

Lettering · Ribs · Black and grey · Photo

The tattoo reads 'And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.' with the reference '1 Corinthians 13:13' beneath it, set in three lines. The lettering is thin, slightly slanted and handwritten in style, with the first line curving upwards across the skin. It is rendered in black ink against warm, lightly lit skin, with a striped fabric visible at the left edge.

Lettering Fine line Ribs Bible verse Scripture Faith Hope Love Text

Find an artist for this

Take it to an artist as a reference. A good artist will make it yours rather than copy someone else's tattoo.

A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

The skipper wants his boat's name repainted on the transom, but it's the strip beneath it he is really after, a hand's width of white board above the waterline where the spray hits hardest. You tell him you can letter anything that fits, and he slides a folded page across the bench, torn from a pew Bible and smelling of the chapel's damp hymn books.

Keep reading

You copy the verse onto card before you touch the enamel. Your father taught you to lean the letters a few degrees forward, so that every word looks as if the hand that wrote it was in a hurry and didn't want to stop. The first line has to climb, because there is no room to set it level and still keep the rest of the board clear. Faith, hope and love. You count them out with the tip of the brush, and the third word takes longest.

The skipper's wife comes down to the quay on the morning he is due out. She has seen the card and wants the reference moved to the bottom, set small, so that anyone who reads it from the pier will know where the words came from and not think you made them up. You say yes, though you already know the paint will need a second coat before the salt has finished with it. She stands with her hand flat on the hull while you work, not saying anything, until the last full stop is dry.

The boat goes out at six with the wind backing north. You stay on the wall with the brush cleaned and wrapped in newspaper, watching her cross the bar. Hours later she comes back round the breakwater low in the water with a full hold, and the morning light catches the white board on her stern, the three lines leaning forward as if they are still trying to reach the harbour before she does.