Bible verse
But in the church, I would rather speak five coherent words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.
1 Corinthians 14:19 · BSB
The verses around it, from 1 Corinthians 14.
15 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.
16 Otherwise, if you speak a blessing in spirit, how can someone who is uninstructed say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
17 You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other one is not edified.
18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
19 But in the church, I would rather speak five coherent words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20 Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
21 It is written in the Law: “By strange tongues and foreign lips I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.”
22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers.
23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
KJV
Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that [by my voice] I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an [unknown] tongue.
ASV
howbeit in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
ERV
howbeit in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.