Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore let him who speaks in another language pray that he may interpret.
- BSB Therefore, the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.
- NKJV Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.
- NASB Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue is to pray that he may interpret.
- NLT So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
One who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. Interpretation makes the gift useful to the congregation.
Overview
Paul gives a practical instruction: the tongue-speaker should seek the gift of interpretation so the church can understand. This shows tongues are not forbidden but must be made intelligible to serve others. The counsel keeps edification central, ensuring that even private-seeming gifts can benefit the gathered body.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mark 11:24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
- John 14:13–14And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
- 1 Cor 12:30Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
- Acts 1:14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
- 1 Cor 14:27–28If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
- Acts 4:29–31And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
- 1 Cor 12:10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
- Acts 8:15Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 14:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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