What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Parallel translations
- KJV What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
- BSB What then shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
- NKJV What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
- NASB What 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.
- NLT 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.
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
Paul resolves to pray and sing with both spirit and understanding. Worship should engage the whole person and remain intelligible.
Overview
Paul models the balance he commends: he will worship with his spirit and equally with his mind. Both prayer and praise should be heartfelt and understandable. This integrates fervor and clarity, ensuring that worship edifies the worshiper and the wider congregation alike, all offered to God in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Col 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
- Eph 6:18with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:
- Eph 5:17–20Therefore don’t be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
- John 4:23–24But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.
- Jude 1:20But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
- Rom 12:1–2Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
- Ps 47:7For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
- 1 Cor 14:19However in the assembly I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in another language.
- Rom 3:5But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.
- 1 Cor 10:19What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
- Rom 1:9For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
- Phil 1:18What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice.
- Rom 8:31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
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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 14:15 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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