13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; (A)I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will (B)sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider[a] say (C)“Amen” to (D)your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers, (E)do not be children in your thinking. (F)Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be (G)mature. 21 (H)In the Law it is written, (I)“By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign[b] not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, (J)will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 (K)the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, (L)falling on his face, he will worship God and (M)declare that God is really among you.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 14:16 Or of him that is without gifts
  2. 1 Corinthians 14:22 Greek lacks a sign

13 [a]Διὸ ὁ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ προσευχέσθω ἵνα διερμηνεύῃ. 14 ἐὰν γὰρ προσεύχωμαι γλώσσῃ, τὸ πνεῦμά μου προσεύχεται, ὁ δὲ νοῦς μου ἄκαρπός ἐστιν. 15 τί οὖν ἐστιν; προσεύξομαι τῷ πνεύματι, προσεύξομαι δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ· ψαλῶ τῷ πνεύματι, ψαλῶ δὲ καὶ τῷ νοΐ· 16 ἐπεὶ ἐὰν [b]εὐλογῇς [c]πνεύματι, ὁ ἀναπληρῶν τὸν τόπον τοῦ ἰδιώτου πῶς ἐρεῖ τὸ Ἀμήν ἐπὶ τῇ σῇ εὐχαριστίᾳ; ἐπειδὴ τί λέγεις οὐκ οἶδεν· 17 σὺ μὲν γὰρ καλῶς εὐχαριστεῖς, ἀλλ’ ὁ ἕτερος οὐκ οἰκοδομεῖται. 18 εὐχαριστῶ τῷ [d]θεῷ, πάντων ὑμῶν μᾶλλον [e]γλώσσαις [f]λαλῶ· 19 ἀλλὰ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ θέλω πέντε λόγους [g]τῷ νοΐ μου λαλῆσαι, ἵνα καὶ ἄλλους κατηχήσω, ἢ μυρίους λόγους ἐν γλώσσῃ.

20 Ἀδελφοί, μὴ παιδία γίνεσθε ταῖς φρεσίν, ἀλλὰ τῇ κακίᾳ νηπιάζετε, ταῖς δὲ φρεσὶν τέλειοι γίνεσθε. 21 ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γέγραπται ὅτι Ἐν ἑτερογλώσσοις καὶ ἐν χείλεσιν [h]ἑτέρων λαλήσω τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ, καὶ οὐδ’ οὕτως εἰσακούσονταί μου, λέγει κύριος. 22 ὥστε αἱ γλῶσσαι εἰς σημεῖόν εἰσιν οὐ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀπίστοις, ἡ δὲ προφητεία οὐ τοῖς ἀπίστοις ἀλλὰ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. 23 ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ πάντες [i]λαλῶσιν γλώσσαις, εἰσέλθωσιν δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι, οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μαίνεσθε; 24 ἐὰν δὲ πάντες προφητεύωσιν, εἰσέλθῃ δέ τις ἄπιστος ἢ ἰδιώτης, ἐλέγχεται ὑπὸ πάντων, ἀνακρίνεται ὑπὸ πάντων, 25 [j]τὰ κρυπτὰ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ φανερὰ γίνεται, καὶ οὕτως πεσὼν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον προσκυνήσει τῷ θεῷ, ἀπαγγέλλων ὅτι [k]Ὄντως ὁ θεὸς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστιν.

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Footnotes

  1. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:13 Διὸ WH Treg NIV ] Διόπερ RP
  2. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:16 εὐλογῇς WH Treg NIV ] εὐλογήσῃς RP
  3. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:16 πνεύματι Treg] ἐν πνεύματι WH NIV; τῷ πνεύματι RP
  4. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:18 θεῷ WH Treg NIV ] + μου RP
  5. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:18 γλώσσαις WH NIV RP ] γλώσσῃ Treg
  6. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:18 λαλῶ WH Treg NIV ] λαλῶν RP
  7. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:19 τῷ νοΐ WH Treg NIV ] διὰ τοῦ νοός RP
  8. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:21 ἑτέρων WH Treg NIV ] ἑτέροις RP
  9. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:23 λαλῶσιν γλώσσαις WH Treg NIV ] γλώσσαις λαλῶσιν RP
  10. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:25 τὰ WH Treg NIV ] καὶ οὕτως τὰ RP
  11. ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ Α΄ 14:25 Ὄντως ὁ θεὸς WH Treg NIV ] Ὁ θεὸς ὄντως RP

13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.(A) 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays,(B) but my mind is unfruitful. 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit,(C) but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing(D) with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer,[a] say “Amen”(E) to your thanksgiving,(F) since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.(G)

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.(H)

20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children.(I) In regard to evil be infants,(J) but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law(K) it is written:

“With other tongues
    and through the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
    but even then they will not listen to me,(L)
says the Lord.”[b]

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy,(M) however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?(N) 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets(O) of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”(P)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 14:16 The Greek word for inquirer is a technical term for someone not fully initiated into a religion; also in verses 23 and 24.
  2. 1 Corinthians 14:21 Isaiah 28:11,12