1 Corinthians 14:9-19

9So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.

10Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.

11If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me.

12So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

13For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.

14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

15So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.

16Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?

17You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

19But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.