1 Corinthians 14
New Testament for Everyone
Priorities in worship
14 Pursue love; and long for the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 Someone who speaks in a tongue, you see, isn’t speaking to human beings but to God. Nobody can understand such speakers, because they speak mysteries in the spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to other people, to build them up, to strengthen them, and to console them. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself or herself; but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
5 I would be delighted for all of you to speak in tongues, but I would be even more delighted to have you all prophesying. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in a tongue, unless they also give an interpretation so that the church may be built up.
Speaking clearly in church
6 Well then, my brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how am I going to bring you any benefit unless I speak to you either in a revelation or in a word of knowledge or in a prophecy or in teaching? 7 It’s the same with lifeless objects that make a sound, like a flute or a lyre. If they don’t give a distinct note, how will anyone know what tune is being blown or plucked? 8 Think about it: if the trumpet doesn’t make a clear sound, who will get ready to fight?
9 It’s the same with you. Unless your tongue gives a distinct message, how will anyone be able to tell what you’re talking about? You will be like someone speaking into thin air. 10 To be sure, there are all kinds and types of languages in the world, and none of them is meaningless. 11 But if I don’t know the force of the words, I will remain a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12 It’s the same with you. Since you are so eager for spiritual matters, try to specialize in doing things that will build up the church.
Praying with mind as well as spirit
13 So the one who speaks in a tongue should pray to be able to say the same thing in clear speech. 14 If I pray in a tongue, you see, my spirit prays, but my mind remains fruitless. 15 Why is that important? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind as well. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind as well. 16 You see, if you say a blessing in the spirit, how can someone who isn’t one of the inner circle say the “Amen” to your prayer? They won’t know what you’re talking about! 17 You may well be giving thanks in fine style, but the other person isn’t being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the assembly I would rather speak five words with my mind, to teach other people, than a thousand words in a tongue.
Signs for believers and unbelievers
20 Brothers and sisters, don’t be children in your thinking. Be babies when it comes to evil, but in your thinking be grown-ups. 21 This is what it says in the law: “I will speak to this people in foreign languages and with the lips of strangers, and even so they won’t listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 So tongues are not meant for believers, but are a warning for unbelievers; while prophecy is not designed for unbelievers, but for those who come to faith. 23 What I mean is this: if the whole assembly comes together and everybody speaks in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers come in, they’ll say you’re crazy, won’t they? 24 But if everyone prophesies, and outsiders or unbelievers come in, they will be called to account by everyone, judged by everyone, 25 the secrets of their hearts will be laid bare, and so they will fall down on their faces and worship God, declaring that “God is truly among you.”
Final instructions for worship
26 So where does this leave us, my brothers and sisters? When you come together, one person has a psalm, another some teaching, another a revelation, another a tongue, and another some interpretation. Let everything be done for the general upbuilding. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, there should be two or at most three, each taking their turn, and one of them should put it into plain speech. 28 But if none of them can do that, let them be silent in the assembly, and speak to themselves and to God.
29 As for prophets, let two or three speak, and the others evaluate what is said. 30 If fresh revelation comes to someone sitting there, the first person should be silent. 31 You can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone can learn, and everyone can be encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are under the control of prophets, 33 since God is the God, not of chaos, but of peace.
As in all the assemblies of God’s people, 34 the women should keep silence in the assemblies. They are not permitted to speak; they should remain in submission, just as the law declares. 35 If they want to understand something more, they should ask their own husbands when they get home. It’s shameful, you see, for a woman to speak in the assembly. 36 Do you suppose God’s word began with you? Are you the only ones it has reached?
37 If anyone thinks they are a prophet, or spiritual, they should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If anyone disregards this, they can be disregarded.
39 So, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a seemly fashion, and in proper order.
1 Corinthians 14
The Message
Prayer Language
14 1-3 Go 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.
4-5 The 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.
6-8 Think, 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?
9-12 So 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?
13-17 So, 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.
18-19 I’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.
20-25 To 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.
26-33 So 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.
34-36 Wives 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?
37-38 If 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.
39-40 Three 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.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson