1 Corinthians 14:6-19

⁶But now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophecy, or of teaching? ⁷Yet even lifeless instruments, whether flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? ⁸For if the trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? ⁹So you too, unless you produce intelligible speech by the tongue, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will just be talking to the air. ¹⁰There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and none is incapable of meaning. ¹¹So if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be unintelligible to the one who speaks, and the one who speaks will be unintelligible to me. ¹²So you too, since you are eager to possess spiritual gifts, strive to excel for the edification of the church.

¹³Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue is to pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive. ¹⁵What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the mind also. ¹⁶For otherwise, if you bless God in the spirit only, how will the one who occupies the place of the outsider know to say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you are saying? ¹⁷For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified. ¹⁸I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; ¹⁹nevertheless, in church I prefer to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.