13. So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said.
14. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.
15. Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.
16. For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying?
17. You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.
18. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.
19. But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.
20. Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.
21. It is written in the Scriptures:“I will speak to my own peoplethrough strange languagesand through the lips of foreigners.But even then, they will not listen to me,”says the lord.
22. So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers.