15. So what should I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
16. If you praise God with your spirit, those persons there without understanding cannot say amen to your prayer of thanks, because they do not know what you are saying.
17. You may be thanking God in a good way, but the other person is not helped.
18. I thank God that I speak in different kinds of languages more than all of you.
19. But in the church meetings I would rather speak five words I understand in order to teach others than thousands of words in a different language.
20. Brothers and sisters, do not think like children. In evil things be like babies, but in your thinking you should be like adults.
21. It is written in the Scriptures:“With people who use strange words and foreign languagesI will speak to these people.But even then they will not listen to me,”says the Lord.
22. So the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages is a sign for those who do not believe, not for those who do believe. And prophecy is for people who believe, not for those who do not believe.
23. Suppose the whole church meets together and everyone speaks in different languages. If some people come in who do not understand or do not believe, they will say you are crazy.
24. But suppose everyone is prophesying and some people come in who do not believe or do not understand. If everyone is prophesying, their sin will be shown to them, and they will be judged by all that they hear.
25. The secret things in their hearts will be made known. So they will bow down and worship God saying, “Truly, God is with you.”
26. So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, and another has a teaching. Another has a new truth from God. Another speaks in a different language, and another person interprets that language. The purpose of all these things should be to help the church grow strong.
27. When you meet together, if anyone speaks in a different language, it should be only two, or not more than three, who speak. They should speak one after the other, and someone should interpret.
28. But if there is no interpreter, then those who speak in a different language should be quiet in the church meeting. They should speak only to themselves and to God.
29. Only two or three prophets should speak, and the others should judge what they say.