14:13 So then, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14:14 If 2 I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive. 14:15 What should I do? 3 I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing praises with my spirit, but I will also sing praises with my mind. 14:16 Otherwise, if you are praising God with your spirit, how can someone without the gift 4 say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 14:17 For you are certainly giving thanks well, but the other person is not strengthened. 14:18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, 14:19 but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind to instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.
14:20 Brothers and sisters, 5 do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
1 tn Grk “eager for spirits.” The plural is probably a shorthand for the Spirit’s gifts, especially in this context, tongues.
2 tc ‡ Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A Ds Ψ 048 Ï lat sy bo), have γάρ (gar, “for”) here, while an equally impressive array of witnesses lack the conjunction (Ì46 B F G 0243 1739 1881 sa). This conjunction was frequently added by scribes in epistolary literature as a clarifying word, making the connection with the preceding more explicit. As such, it has the earmarks of being a motivated reading and thus should be rejected. NA27 places the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
3 tn Grk “what then is it?”
4 tn Grk “how can someone who fills the place of the unlearned say ‘Amen.’”
5 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.