1 Corinthians 14
14
Tongues and Prophecy
1#1Co 12:1; 14:39Follow after love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2#1Co 13:2; Mk 16:17For he who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to men, but to God. For no one understands him, although in the spirit, he speaks mysteries. 3#Ro 14:19; 1Co 14:12But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification and exhortation and comfort. 4#Mk 16:17; 1Co 14:3He who speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5#1Co 12:10; Mk 16:17I desire that you all speak in tongues, but even more that you prophesy. For greater is he who prophesies than he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.
6#Eph 1:17; Ro 6:17Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you by revelation or knowledge or prophesying or doctrine? 7Even when things without life give sound, whether flute or harp, how will it be known what is played unless they give a distinction in the sounds? 8#Nu 10:9; Jer 4:19If the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for the battle? 9#1Co 9:26So also you, unless with the tongue you speak words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you shall speak into the air. 10There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. 11#Ac 28:2Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the speech, I shall be a barbarian to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a barbarian to me. 12#1Co 14:26So, seeing that you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church.
13Let him who speaks in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. 14#1Co 14:2For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15#Col 3:16; Ps 47:7What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding. 16#1Ch 16:36; Ps 106:48Otherwise, when you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the unlearned say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, seeing he does not understand what you say? 17#1Co 14:4For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.
18I thank my God that I speak in tongues more than you all. 19Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.
20#Ro 16:19; Ps 119:99Brothers, do not be children in your thinking; rather be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21#Jn 10:34; Isa 28:11–12In the law it is written:
“With men of other tongues
and other lips
I will speak to this people;
but even then they will not hear Me,”#Isa 28:11–12.
says the Lord.
22#Mk 16:17So tongues are for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers. But prophesying does not serve unbelievers, but believers. 23#Ac 2:13Therefore if the whole church assembles in one place and all speak with tongues, and those who are unlearned or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24But if all prophesy and there comes in one who does not believe or one unlearned, he is convinced by all and judged by all. 25#Isa 45:14; Zec 8:23Thus the secrets of his heart are revealed. And so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
All Things to Be Done in Order
26#Ro 14:19; 1Co 12:7–10How is it then, brothers? When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, and an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27If anyone speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and each in turn, and let one interpret. 28But if there is no interpreter, let him remain silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
29#1Co 12:10Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30#1Th 5:19–20If anything is revealed to another that sits by, let the first keep silent. 31For you may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32#1Jn 4:1The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33#1Co 7:17; 4:17For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
34#1Ti 2:11–12; Ge 3:16Let your women remain silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak. They are commanded to be under obedience, as the law also says. 35If they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
36What? Did the word of God come from you? Or did it come to you only? 37#2Co 10:7; 1Jn 4:6If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is a command of the Lord. 38But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
39#1Co 12:31; 14:1Therefore, brothers, eagerly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40#Col 2:5Let all things be done decently and in order.
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Military Bible Association
1 Corinthians 14
14
Prayer Language
1-3Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth. If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him. But when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech, you’re letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience his presence with you.
4-5The one who prays using a private “prayer language” certainly gets a lot out of it, but proclaiming God’s truth to the church in its common language brings the whole church into growth and strength. I want all of you to develop intimacies with God in prayer, but please don’t stop with that. Go on and proclaim his clear truth to others. It’s more important that everyone have access to the knowledge and love of God in language everyone understands than that you go off and cultivate God’s presence in a mysterious prayer language—unless, of course, there is someone who can interpret what you are saying for the benefit of all.
6-8Think, friends: If I come to you and all I do is pray privately to God in a way only he can understand, what are you going to get out of that? If I don’t address you plainly with some insight or truth or proclamation or teaching, what help am I to you? If musical instruments—flutes, say, or harps—aren’t played so that each note is distinct and in tune, how will anyone be able to catch the melody and enjoy the music? If the trumpet call can’t be distinguished, will anyone show up for the battle?
9-12So if you speak in a way no one can understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth? There are many languages in the world and they all mean something to someone. But if I don’t understand the language, it’s not going to do me much good. It’s no different with you. Since you’re so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don’t you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church?
13-17So, when you pray in your private prayer language, don’t hoard the experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to bring others into that intimacy. If I pray in tongues, my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is wasted. So what’s the solution? The answer is simple enough. Do both. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. I should sing with my spirit, and sing with my mind. If you give a blessing using your private prayer language, which no one else understands, how can some outsider who has just shown up and has no idea what’s going on know when to say “Amen”? Your blessing might be beautiful, but you have very effectively cut that person out of it.
18-19I’m grateful to God for the gift of praying in tongues that he gives us for praising him, which leads to wonderful intimacies we enjoy with him. I enter into this as much or more than any of you. But when I’m in a church assembled for worship, I’d rather say five words that everyone can understand and learn from than say ten thousand that sound to others like gibberish.
20-25To be perfectly frank, I’m getting exasperated with your childish thinking. How long before you grow up and use your head—your adult head? It’s all right to have a childlike unfamiliarity with evil; a simple no is all that’s needed there. But there’s far more to saying yes to something. Only mature and well-exercised intelligence can save you from falling into gullibility. It’s written in Scripture that God said,
In strange tongues
and from the mouths of strangers
I will preach to this people,
but they’ll neither listen nor believe.
So where does it get you, all this speaking in tongues no one understands? It doesn’t help believers, and it only gives unbelievers something to gawk at. Plain truth-speaking, on the other hand, goes straight to the heart of believers and doesn’t get in the way of unbelievers. If you come together as a congregation and some unbelieving outsiders walk in on you as you’re all praying in tongues, unintelligible to each other and to them, won’t they assume you’ve taken leave of your senses and get out of there as fast as they can? But if some unbelieving outsiders walk in on a service where people are speaking out God’s truth, the plain words will bring them up against the truth and probe their hearts. Before you know it, they’re going to be on their faces before God, recognizing that God is among you.
26-33So here’s what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three’s the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you’re saying. Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. If you choose to speak, you’re also responsible for how and when you speak. When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.
34-36Wives must not disrupt worship, talking when they should be listening, asking questions that could more appropriately be asked of their husbands at home. God’s Book of the law guides our manners and customs here. Wives have no license to use the time of worship for unwarranted speaking. Do you—both women and men—imagine that you’re a sacred oracle determining what’s right and wrong? Do you think everything revolves around you?
37-38If any one of you thinks God has something for you to say or has inspired you to do something, pay close attention to what I have written. This is the way the Master wants it. If you won’t play by these rules, God can’t use you. Sorry.
39-40Three things, then, to sum this up: When you speak forth God’s truth, speak your heart out. Don’t tell people how they should or shouldn’t pray when they’re praying in tongues that you don’t understand. Be courteous and considerate in everything.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.