1 Corinthians 14:5-7

Living Bible

⁵ I wish you all had the gift of “speaking in tongues,” but even more I wish you were all able to prophesy, preaching God’s messages, for that is a greater and more useful power than to speak in unknown languages—unless, of course, you can tell everyone afterwards what you were saying, so that they can get some good out of it too.

⁶ Dear friends, even if I myself should come to you talking in some language you don’t understand, how would that help you? But if I speak plainly what God has revealed to me, and tell you the things I know, and what is going to happen, and the great truths of God’s Word—that is what you need; that is what will help you. ⁷ Even musical instruments—the flute, for instance, or the harp—are examples of the need for speaking in plain, simple English^[a] rather than in unknown languages. For no one will recognize the tune the flute is playing unless each note is sounded clearly.