Old Testament

New Testament

1 Corinthians 14:19-30 New English Translation (NET)

19. but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind to instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20. Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

21. It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,” says the Lord.

22. So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.

23. So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds?

24. But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or uninformed person enters, he will be convicted by all, he will be called to account by all.

25. The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and in this way he will fall down with his face to the ground and worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.”

26. What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church.

27. If someone speaks in a tongue, it should be two, or at the most three, one after the other, and someone must interpret.

28. But if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church. Let him speak to himself and to God.

29. Two or three prophets should speak and the others should evaluate what is said.

30. And if someone sitting down receives a revelation, the person who is speaking should conclude.

Read complete chapter 1 Corinthians 14