1 Cô-rinh-tô 14

Prophecy builds up the church

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.^{a 3}But 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.^b

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.^{c 15}What 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.^{d 16}Otherwise, 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?^e 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.

Tongues, prophecy and outsiders

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.^{f 23}Picture 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!”

Order when the church meets

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.^{g 30}And 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.^hi

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.^{jklm 35}If 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.^{n 36}Or did God’s word go out from you? Has it come to you and no one else?^{o 37}If anyone thinks they are a prophet or spiritual, they should recognize that what I am writing to you comes from the Lord.^{p 38}Anyone who refuses to recognize this is not recognized either.^{qr 39}So 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.