The translation

Read Works of Love

You do not need to know Kierkegaard—or begin at the beginning—to enter this book. Choose a short way in, or browse the complete published translation below.

The First Series and all ten discourses of the Second Series are available. Each discourse offers the English reading text, a Danish–English comparison, editorial notes and stable passage references. The translation remains provisional.

Why discourses rather than chapters?

Works of Love is not organised like a textbook, in which each chapter completes one step in a continuous argument. Kierkegaard’s subtitle calls it “Some Christian deliberations in the form of discourses.” Here a discourse is a sustained address to the reader, usually beginning from a biblical saying or a particular claim about love and considering it from several directions. Kierkegaard did not call these sermons: a sermon presupposed church authority, whereas he wrote as an individual without claiming that authority. The form is meant not simply to explain love, but to address the individual reader and prepare thought for action.

The book has two series. The First considers love’s hidden source and the command and duty to love the neighbour. Some discourses are divided so that the emphasis can shift: “You shall love”; “You shall love the neighbour”; and “‘You’ shall love the neighbour.” The Second Series turns more explicitly to love’s works—building up, believing, hoping, mercy, reconciliation, remembering the dead and praising love.

This returning movement can feel repetitive if it is approached as a modern sequence of chapters. The repetition is usually deliberate: Kierkegaard revisits the same demand from a new scriptural, ethical or human angle. A reader may therefore take one discourse slowly, pause and return later. Each has a certain independence while remaining part of the larger work.

Sources and further reading: Royal Danish Library text; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; a scholarly discussion of the deliberative form and biblical structure.

First Series

1. Front matter
   Preface and Prayer
2. First Series I
   The Hidden Life of Love and How Its Fruits Disclose It
   Download First Series I (PDF, 14 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)
3. First Series II.A
   You Shall Love
   Download First Series II.A (PDF, 26 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)
4. First Series II.B
   You Shall Love the Neighbour
   Download First Series II.B (PDF, 18 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)
5. First Series II.C
   “You” Shall Love the Neighbour
   Download First Series II.C (PDF, 29 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)
6. First Series III.A
   Love Is the Fulfilment of the Law
   Download First Series III.A (PDF, 39 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)
7. First Series III.B
   Love Is a Matter of Conscience
   Download First Series III.B (PDF, 18 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)
8. First Series IV
   Our Duty to Love the People We See
   Download First Series IV (PDF, 19 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)
9. First Series V
   Our Duty to Remain in Love’s Debt to One Another
   Download First Series V (PDF, 27 pages; revision 1.0, 16 September 2026)

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Second Series

All ten discourses of the Second Series now have reading texts revised from the Danish. Discourses 9 and 10 were published on 12 October 2026. Work continues on the book’s concluding section. All remain provisional and open to correction.

1. Second Series · Discourse 1
   Love Builds Up
   Download Second Series I (PDF, 14 pages; readable revision 2.0, 16 September 2026)
2. Second Series · Discourse 2
   Love Believes All Things—and Yet Is Never Deceived
   Download Second Series II (PDF, 21 pages; readable revision 2.0, 15 September 2026)
3. Second Series · Discourse 3
   Love Hopes All Things—and Yet Is Never Put to Shame
   Download Second Series III (PDF, 16 pages; readable revision 2.0, 16 September 2026)
4. Second Series · Discourse 4
   Love Does Not Seek Its Own
   Download Second Series IV (PDF, 14 pages; readable revision 2.0, 16 September 2026)
5. Second Series · Discourse 5
   Love Hides the Multitude of Sins
   Download Second Series V (PDF, 20 pages; readable revision 2.0, 16 September 2026)
6. Second Series · Discourse 6
   Love Abides

   Download Second Series VI (PDF, 15 pages; readable revision 2.0, 16 September 2026)

7. Second Series · Discourse 7
   Mercy, a Work of Love
   Readable revision 2.0 · canonical web text · 5 October 2026
   Revision details
8. Second Series · Discourse 8
   The Victory of a Reconciling Spirit in Love
   Canonical readable revision · 9 October 2026
   Revision details and earlier PDF
9. Second Series · Discourse 9
   The Work of Love in Remembering Someone Who Has Died
   Canonical readable web text · 12 October 2026
   Reading guide · Publication details
10. Second Series · Discourse 10
    The Work of Love in Praising Love
    Canonical readable web text · 12 October 2026
    Reading guide · Publication details

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Finding, sharing and referring to a passage

Passage numbers belong to this edition. The grouping varies between discourses: some short statements are numbered separately, while some passages bring together several Danish source paragraphs. The established numbers are retained so that existing links, notes and citations remain usable. Why the numbering varies.

On the numbered discourse pages, each passage has its own permanent link. To share or copy one, select its numbered ¶ marker—for example, ¶ 12.

When referring to a passage in writing, give the discourse and passage number—for example: First Series III.A, passage 12. This remains useful regardless of the reader’s device. In a downloadable PDF, the printed page number may also be added.

Published human scholarly translations are the gold standard and the editions to use for academic quotation and citation. See the guide to human scholarly translations.

Read offline — PDF and EPUB

Download the complete First Series (PDF)
Download the complete First Series (EPUB)

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About these editions

Second Series I–VI have standalone readable-revision PDFs: II dated 15 September 2026, and I and III–VI dated 16 September 2026. Their page numbers begin at 1; older continuous-series pagination does not apply to these files. Second Series VII received its canonical readable web replacement on 5 October 2026; its earlier provisional PDF has been retired from the current index and is retained in the revision history. Second Series VIII received its canonical readable web replacement on 9 October 2026; its earlier provisional PDF (continuous Series Two pp. 179–196) is preserved only in the revision history. Use discourse and passage references across formats. Earlier files and the revision record remain available.

EPUB page numbers vary with the reading app and display settings; use the discourse and passage number for a stable reference.

The complete First Series PDF and EPUB, and all eight individual First Series PDFs, contain editorial revision 1.0 dated 16 September 2026. The complete PDF has 187 pages, including Preface, Prayer and translation notes. Each individual PDF starts at page 1. These new page numbers replace the earlier continuous pagination for this revision; older files remain available in the revision history. V’s complete conclusion remains included as passages 30–44.

The First Series PDFs use a spacious reading layout with bookmarks. Internal English paragraph breaks aid reading while preserving every numbered reference.