Letters to the Churches

And if there is no one present who can interpret, let the people who speak in tongues keep silent when the congregation meets — they can speak to themselves and to God.

Let two or three prophets speak, while the others weigh what is said.

And if something is revealed to a prophet who is sitting down, let the first one be silent.

For you can all prophesy one by one, with the result that all will learn something and all will be encouraged.

Also, the prophets’ spirits are under the prophets’ control;

for God is not a God of unruliness but of shalom. As in all the congregations of God’s people,

let the wives remain silent when the congregation meets; they are certainly not permitted to speak out. Rather, let them remain subordinate, as also the Torah says;

and if there is something they want to know, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for a woman to speak out in a congregational meeting.

Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or is endowed with the Spirit, let him acknowledge that what I am writing you is a command of the Lord.

But if someone doesn’t recognize this, then let him remain unrecognized.

So, my brothers, eagerly seek to prophesy; and do not forbid speaking in tongues;

but let all things be done in a proper and orderly way.

Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand,

and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain.

For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says;

and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says;

and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve;

and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died.

Later he was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries;

and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time.

For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God.

But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me.

Anyhow, whether I or they, this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed.

But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?