1 Corinthians 14:18–40

¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; ¹⁹nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.^{* 21}In the law it is written,

“By people of strange tongues

and by the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

yet even then they will not listen to me,”

says the Lord.^{* 22}Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³If, therefore, the entire church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?^{* 24}But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all. ²⁵After the secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship, declaring, “God is really among you.”

Orderly Worship

²⁶What should be done then, my brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.^{* 27}If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three and each in turn, and let one interpret. ²⁸But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God. ²⁹Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. ³⁰If someone sitting receives a revelation, let the first person be silent. ³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged ³²(and the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets, ³³for God is a God not of disorder but of peace), as in all the churches of the saints.

³⁴Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak but should be subordinate, as the law also says.^{* 35}If there is something they want to learn, let them ask their husbands at home.^d For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.^{e 36}Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?

³⁷Anyone who claims to be a prophet or spiritual must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command^f of the Lord.^{* 38}Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized. ³⁹So, my brothers and sisters, strive to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues,^{* 40}but all things should be done decently and in order.