Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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More about Gifts from the Spirit
1 It is love, then, that you
should strive for. Set your
hearts on spiritual gifts, especially
the gift of proclaiming God's message.
2 The one who speaks in
strange tongues does not speak to
others but to God, because no one
understands him. He is speaking secret
truths by the power of the
Spirit.
3 But the one who proclaims
God's message speaks to people and
gives them help, encouragement,
and comfort.
4 The one who speaks
in strange tongues helps only himself,
but the one who proclaims
God's message helps the whole
church.
5 I would like for all of you to
speak in strange tongues; but I
would rather that you had the gift of
proclaiming God's message. For the
person who proclaims God's message
is of greater value than the one
who speaks in strange tongues—unless
there is someone present who
can explain what he says, so that the
whole church may be helped.
6 So
when I come to you, my brothers,
what use will I be to you if I speak in
strange tongues? Not a bit, unless I
bring you some revelation from God
or some knowledge or some inspired
message or some teaching.
7 Take such lifeless musical instruments
as the flute or the harp—
how will anyone know the tune that
is being played unless the notes are
sounded distinctly?
8 And if the man
who plays the bugle does not sound
a clear call, who will prepare for battle?
9 In the same way, how will anyone
understand what you are talking
-- --
about if your message given in
strange tongues is not clear? Your
words will vanish in the air!
10 There
are many different languages in the
world, yet none of them is without
meaning.
11 But if I do not know the
language being spoken, the person
who uses it will be a foreigner to me
and I will be a foreigner to him.
12 Since you are eager to have the
gifts of the Spirit, you must try
above everything else to make
greater use of those which help to
build up the church.
13 The person who speaks in
strange tongues, then, must pray for
the gift to explain what he says.
14 For if I pray in this way, my spirit
prays indeed, but my mind has no
part in it.
15 What should I do, then? I
will pray with my spirit, but I will
pray also with my mind; I will sing
with my spirit, but I will sing also
with my mind.
16 When you give
thanks to God in spirit only, how can
an ordinary person taking part in the
meeting say “Amen” to your prayer
of thanksgiving? He has no way of
knowing what you are saying.
17 Even if your prayer of thanks to
God is quite good, the other person
is not helped at all.
18 I thank God that I speak in
strange tongues much more than
any of you.
19 But in church worship
I would rather speak five words that
can be understood, in order to teach
others, than speak thousands of
words in strange tongues.
20 Do not be like children in your
thinking, my brothers; be children so
far as evil is concerned, but be
grown up in your thinking.
21 In the
Scriptures it is written,
“By means of men speaking strange languages
I will speak to my people, says the Lord.
I will speak through lips of foreigners,
but even then my people will not listen to me.” note
22 So then, the gift of speaking in
strange tongues is proof for unbelievers,
not for believers, while the
gift of proclaiming God's message is
proof for believers, not for unbelievers.
23 If, then, the whole church meets
together and everyone starts speaking
in strange tongues—and if some
ordinary people or unbelievers come
in, won't they say that you are all
crazy?
24 But if everyone is proclaiming
God's message when some unbeliever
or ordinary person comes in,
he will be convinced of his sin by
what he hears. He will be judged by
all he hears,
25 his secret thoughts
will be brought into the open, and he
will bow down and worship God,
confessing, “Truly God is here
among you!”
Order in the Church
26 This is what I mean, my brothers.
When you meet for worship, one
person has a hymn, another a teaching,
another a revelation from God,
another a message in strange
tongues, and still another the explanation
of what is said. Everything
must be of help to the church.
27 If
someone is going to speak in strange
tongues, two or three at the most
should speak, one after the other,
and someone else must explain what
is being said.
28 But if no one is there
who can explain, then the one who
speaks in strange tongues must be
quiet and speak only to himself and
to God.
29 Two or three who are given
God's message should speak,
while the others are to judge what
they say.
30 But if someone sitting in
the meeting receives a message
from God, the one who is speaking
should stop.
31 All of you may proclaim
God's message, one by one, so
that everyone will learn and be encouraged.
32 The gift of proclaiming
God's message should be under the
speaker's control,
33 because God
does not want us to be in disorder
but in harmony and peace.
33 As in all the churches of God's
people,
34 the women should keep
quiet in the meetings. They are not
allowed to speak; as the Jewish Law
says, they must not be in charge.
35 If
-- --
they want to find out about something,
they should ask their husbands
at home. It is a disgraceful
thing for a woman to speak in a
church meeting.
36 Or could it be that the word of
God came from you? Or are you the
only ones to whom it came?
37 If anyone
supposes he is God's messenger
or has a spiritual gift, he must realize
that what I am writing to you is
the Lord's command.
38 But if he
does not pay attention to this, pay
no attention to him.
39 So then, my brothers, set your
heart on proclaiming God's message,
but do not forbid the speaking
in strange tongues.
40 Everything
must be done in a proper and orderly
way.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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