But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let all things be done decently and in order.
- KJV Let all things be done decently and in order.
- NKJV Let all things be done decently and in order.
- NASB But all things must be done properly and in an orderly way.
- NLT But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.
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
All worship should be done fittingly and in order. It matters because God's character of peace shapes how His people gather.
Overview
This closing principle governs the whole discussion of gifts and worship: nothing chaotic or self-serving, but everything decent and orderly. Because God is not a God of confusion but of peace, His assemblies reflect that order. The verse remains a touchstone for ordering Christian worship to honor God and edify His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Col 2:5For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.
- Titus 1:5The reason I left you in Crete was that you would set in order what was unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
- 1 Cor 14:26–33What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.
- 1 Cor 11:34If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you come together it will not result in judgment. And when I come, I will give instructions about the remaining matters.
- Rom 13:13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 14:40 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.