1 Corinthians 14:5–19

⁵Now I want you all to speak with tongues, but even more that you may prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks with tongues, unless he interprets, in order that the church may receive edification.

⁶But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking with tongues, how do I benefit you, unless I speak to you either with a revelation or with knowledge or with a prophecy or with a teaching? ⁷Likewise, the inanimate things which produce a sound, whether flute or lyre, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the lyre? ⁸For indeed, if the trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare for battle? ⁹And so you through the tongue, unless you produce a clear message, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰There are probably so many kinds of languages in the world, and none without meaning. ¹¹Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a barbarian to the one who is speaking, and the one who is speaking will be a barbarian in my judgment. ¹²In this way also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek for the edification of the church, in order that you may abound.

¹³Therefore the one who speaks in a tongue must pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. ¹⁵Therefore what should I do^b? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will also sing praise with my mind. ¹⁶For otherwise, if you praise in your spirit, how will the one who fills the place of the outsider say the “amen” at your thanksgiving, because he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷For indeed you are giving thanks well, but the other person is not edified. ¹⁸I give thanks to God that I speak with tongues more than all of you, ¹⁹but in the church I prefer to speak five words with my mind, in order that I may instruct other people, than ten thousand words in a tongue.