Letters to the Churches

and he who is prophesying to men doth speak edification, and exhortation, and comfort;

he who is speaking in an unknown tongue, himself doth edify, and he who is prophesying, an assembly doth edify;

and I wish you all to speak with tongues, and more that ye may prophecy, for greater is he who is prophesying than he who is speaking with tongues, except one may interpret, that the assembly may receive edification.

And now, brethren, if I may come unto you speaking tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either in revelation, or in knowledge, or in prophesying, or in teaching?

yet the things without life giving sound--whether pipe or harp--if a difference in the sounds they may not give, how shall be known that which is piped or that which is harped?

for if also an uncertain sound a trumpet may give, who shall prepare himself for battle?

so also ye, if through the tongue, speech easily understood ye may not give--how shall that which is spoken be known? for ye shall be speaking to air.

There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is unmeaning,

if, then, I do not know the power of the voice, I shall be to him who is speaking a foreigner, and he who is speaking, is to me a foreigner;

so also ye, since ye are earnestly desirous of spiritual gifts, for the building up of the assembly seek that ye may abound;

wherefore he who is speaking in an unknown tongue--let him pray that he may interpret;

for if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit doth pray, and my understanding is unfruitful.

What then is it? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the understanding; I will sing psalms with the spirit, and I will sing psalms also with the understanding;

since, if thou mayest bless with the spirit, he who is filling the place of the unlearned, how shall he say the Amen at thy giving of thanks, since what thou dost say he hath not known?

for thou, indeed, dost give thanks well, but the other is not built up!

I give thanks to my God--more than you all with tongues speaking--

but in an assembly I wish to speak five words through my understanding, that others also I may instruct, rather than myriads of words in an unknown tongue.

Brethren, become not children in the understanding, but in the evil be ye babes, and in the understanding become ye perfect;

in the law it hath been written, that, `With other tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, and not even so will they hear Me, saith the Lord;'

so that the tongues are for a sign, not to the believing, but to the unbelieving; and the prophesy is not for the unbelieving, but for the believing,

If, therefore, the whole assembly may come together, to the same place, and all may speak with tongues, and there may come in unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

and if all may prophecy, and any one may come in, an unbeliever or unlearned, he is convicted by all, he is discerned by all,

and so the secrets of his heart become manifest, and so having fallen upon his face, he will bow before God, declaring that God really is among you.

What then is it, brethren? whenever ye may come together, each of you hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation? let all things be for building up;

if an unknown tongue any one do speak, by two, or at the most, by three, and in turn, and let one interpret;