Moffatt(i)
1 But I want you to understand about spiritual gifts, brothers.
2 You know when you were pagans, how your impulses led you to dumb idols;
3 so I tell you now, that no one is speaking in the Spirit of God when he cries, 'Cursed be Jesus,' and that no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except in the holy Spirit.
4 There are varieties of talents, but the same Spirit;
5 varieties of service, but the same Lord;
6 varieties of effects, but the same God who effects everything in everyone.
7 Each receives his manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8 One man is granted words of wisdom by the Spirit, another words of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 one man in the same Spirit has the gift of faith, another in the one Spirit has gifts of healing;
10 one has prophecy, another the gift of distinguishing spirits, another the gift of 'tongues' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting 'tongues.'
11 But all these effects are produced by one and the same Spirit, apportioning them severally to each individual as he pleases.
12 As the human body is one and has many members, all the members of the body forming one body for all their number, so is it with Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen; we have all been imbued with one Spirit.
14 Why, even the body consists not of one member but of many.
15 If the foot were to say, 'Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.
16 If the ear were to say, 'Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body,' that does not make it no part of the body.
17 If the body were all eye, where would hearing be? If the body were all ear, where would smell be?
18 As it is, God has set the members in the body, each as it pleased him.
19 If they all made up one member, what would become of the body?
20 As it is, there are many members and one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'
22 Quite the contrary. We cannot do without those very members of the body which are considered rather delicate,
23 just as the parts we consider rather dishonourable are the very parts we invest with special honour; our indecorous parts get a special care and attention
24 which does not need to be paid to our more decorous parts. Yes, God has tempered the body together, with a special dignity for the inferior parts,
25 so that there may be no disunion in the body, but that the various members should have a common concern for one another.
26 Thus if one member suffers, all the members share its suffering; if one member is honoured, all the members share its honour.
27 Now you are Christ's Body, and severally members of it.
28 That is to say, God has set people within the church to be first of all apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, and speakers in 'tongues' of various kinds.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?
30 Are all endowed with the gifts of healing? Are all able to speak in 'tongues'? Are all able to interpret?
31 Set your hearts on the higher talents. And yet I will go on to show you a still higher path.
13 1 Thus, I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have no love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal;
2 I may prophesy, fathom all mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for nothing;
3 I may distribute all I possess in charity, I may give up my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I make nothing of it.
4 Love is very patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy; love makes no parade, gives itself no airs,
5 is never rude, never selfish, never irritated, never resentful;
6 love is never glad when others go wrong, love is gladdened by goodness,
7 always slow to expose, always eager to believe the best, always hopeful, always patient.
8 Love never disappears. As for prophesying, it will be superseded; as for 'tongues,' they will cease; as for knowledge, it will be superseded.
9 For we only know bit by bit, and we only prophesy bit by bit;
10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I argued like a child; now that I am a man, I am done with childish ways.
12 At present we only see the baffling reflections in a mirror, but then it will be face to face; at present I am learning bit by bit, but then I shall understand, as all along I have myself been understood.
13 Thus 'faith and hope and love last on, these three,' but the greatest of all is love.
14 1 Make love your aim, and then set your heart on the spiritual gifts — especially upon prophecy.
2 For he who speaks in a 'tongue' addresses God not men; no one understands him; he is talking of divine secrets in the Spirit.
3 On the other hand, he who prophesies addresses men in words that edify, encourage, and console them.
4 He who speaks in a 'tongue' edifies himself, whereas he who prophesies edifies the church.
5 Now I would like you all to speak with 'tongues,' but I would prefer you to prophesy. The man who prophesies is higher than the man who speaks with 'tongues' — unless indeed the latter interprets, so that the church may get edification.
6 Suppose now I were to come to you speaking with 'tongues,' my brothers; what good could I do you, unless I had some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching to lay before you?
7 Inanimate instruments, such as the flute or the harp, may give a sound, but if no intervals occur in their music, how can one make out the air that is being played either on flute or on harp?
8 If the trumpet sounds indistinct, who will get ready for the fray?
9 Well, it is the same with yourselves. Unless your tongue utters language that is readily understood, how can people make out what you say? You will be pouring words into the empty air!
10 There are ever so many kinds of language in the world, everyone of them meaning something.
11 Well, unless I understand the meaning of what is said to me, I shall appear to the speaker to be talking gibberish, and to my mind he will be talking gibberish himself.
12 So with yourselves; since your heart is set on possessing 'spirits,' make the edification of the church your aim in this desire to excel.
13 Thus a man who speaks in a 'tongue' must pray for the gift of interpreting it.
14 For if I pray with a 'tongue,' my spirit prays, no doubt, but my mind is no use to anyone.
15 Very well then, I will pray in the Spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing praise in the Spirit, but I will also sing praise with my mind.
16 Otherwise, suppose you are blessing God in the Spirit, how is the outsider to say 'Amen' to your thanksgiving? The man does not understand what you are saying!
17 Your thanksgiving may be all right, but then — the other man is not edified!
18 Thank God, I speak in 'tongues' more than any of you;
19 but in church I would rather say five words with my own mind for the instruction of other people than ten thousand words in a 'tongue.'
20 Brothers, do not be children in the sphere of intelligence; in evil be mere infants, but be mature in your intelligence.
21 It is written in the Law, By men of alien tongues and by the lips of aliens I will speak to this People; but even so, they will not listen to me, saith the Lord.
22 Thus 'tongues' are intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; whereas prophesying is meant for believers, not for unbelievers.
23 Hence if at a gathering of the whole church everybody speaks with 'tongues,' and if outsiders or un believers come in, will they not say you are insane?
24 Whereas, if everybody prophesies, and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is exposed by all, brought to book by all;
25 the secrets of his heart are brought to light, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring, 'God is really among you.'
26 Very well then, brothers; when you meet together, each contributes something — a song of praise, a lesson, a revelation, a 'tongue,' an interpretation? Good, but let every thing be for edification.
27 As for speaking in a 'tongue,' let only two or at most three speak at one meeting, and that in turn. Also, let someone interpret;
28 if there is no interpreter, let the speaker keep quiet in church and address himself and God.
29 Let only two or three prophets speak, while the rest exercise their judgment upon what is said.
30 Should a revelation come to one who is seated, the first speaker must be quiet.
31 You can all prophesy quite well, one after another, so as to let all learn and all be encouraged.
32 Prophets can control their own prophetic spirits,
33 for God is a God not of disorder but of harmony. [Move 33b-36 to follow vs 40] As is the rule in all churches of the saints,
34 women must keep quiet at gatherings of the church. They are not allowed to speak; they must take a subordinate place, as the Law enjoins.
35 If they want any information, let them ask their husbands at home; it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.
36 You challenge this rule? Pray, did God's word start from you? Are you the only people it has reached?
37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or gifted with the Spirit, let him understand that what I write to you is a command of the Lord.
38 Anyone who disregards this will be himself disregarded.
39 To sum up, my brothers. Set your heart on the prophetic gift, and do not put any check upon speaking in 'tongues';
40 but let everything be done decorously and in order.