1 Corinthians 14

1Strive for love, and set your hearts on spiritual gifts, most of all on prophesying. 2Someone who speaks in a tongue is speaking not to people but to God. No one understands what is said; in the Spirit, the speaker is uttering mysteries. 3But someone who prophesies speaks to people, and the words build them up, encourage them and comfort them. 4Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church. 5I would be glad for all of you to speak in tongues, but gladder still for you to prophesy. Those who prophesy are greater than those who speak in tongues, unless they also interpret, so that the church receives something that builds it up.

6So then, brothers and sisters, suppose I come to you speaking in tongues. What use will I be to you, unless what I say to you brings a revelation, or knowledge, or prophecy, or teaching? 7Think of instruments, lifeless as they are, that give out a sound, like the flute or the harp. If their notes are not distinct, how can anyone tell what is being played on the flute or the harp? 8And if a trumpet sounds a signal no one can make out, who will prepare to fight? 9So with you: if your tongue does not produce speech that makes sense, how will what you say be understood? You will be speaking to empty air. 10Who knows how many languages there are in the world? And not one of them is without meaning. 11If I do not understand the language someone speaks, we will be foreigners to each other: I to the speaker, and the speaker to me. 12It is the same with you. Since you are so eager for the workings of the Spirit, aim to have them in abundance for the building up of the church.

13For that reason, anyone who speaks in a tongue should ask God for the power to interpret it as well. 14When I pray in a tongue, it is my spirit that prays, while my mind bears no fruit. 15What follows, then? I will pray in the spirit, and I will pray with my mind as well. I will sing praise in the spirit, and I will sing praise with my mind as well. 16Otherwise, if you bless God in the spirit, how will someone who is in the outsider’s place say the “Amen” to your prayer of thanks? That person has no idea what you are saying. 17Your thanksgiving may be fine, but it does nothing to build up the other person. 18I am thankful to God that, more than every one of you, I speak in tongues. 19But when the church meets, I would sooner speak five words with my mind, so as to teach others too, than thousands upon thousands of words in a tongue.

20Brothers and sisters, do not think like children. Be babies where evil is concerned, but in your understanding be grown up. 21It is written in the law: “Through those who speak other tongues, and through the lips of strangers, I will speak to this people; and not even then will they heed me, says the Lord.” 22So tongues serve as a sign, but the sign is for unbelievers, not for those who believe. Prophecy, on the other hand, is for those who believe, not for unbelievers. 23Picture the whole church gathered in one place, with everyone speaking in tongues. If outsiders or unbelievers walk in, will they not say you have gone mad? 24But if everyone is prophesying, and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, they are convicted by what all are saying and examined by what all are saying. 25The secrets of their heart come into the open, and so they will fall face down and worship God, declaring, “God really is among you!”

26What follows, then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you gather, each of you has something: a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation. Everything should be done to build up the church. 27As for speaking in a tongue, let it be done by two people, or by three at the most, each taking a turn, and let one person interpret. 28If there is no one to interpret, the speaker should keep silent in the church, speaking only to themselves and to God. 29As for prophets, let two or three speak, and let the others weigh their words. 30And if something is revealed to another person who is sitting there, the first speaker should keep silent. 31You can all prophesy, each in turn, so that all of you learn and all of you are encouraged. 32Prophets have their own spirits under their control. 33God is the God of peace, not of disorder, as is true in all the churches of God’s holy people.

34In the churches the women are to keep silent. They are not permitted to speak; instead they are to be subject, as the law also says. 35If there is something they wish to learn, they are to put their questions to their own husbands at home. It is shameful for a woman to speak when the church meets. 36Or did God’s word go out from you? Has it come to you and no one else? 37If anyone thinks they are a prophet or spiritual, they should recognize that what I am writing to you comes from the Lord. 38Anyone who refuses to recognize this is not recognized either. 39So then, my brothers and sisters, set your hearts on prophesying, and do not stop anyone from speaking in tongues. 40But let everything be done properly and in good order.