Study Desk

that there might be no disunion in the body, but that all the members might entertain the same anxious care for one another's welfare.

As for you, you are the body of Christ, and individually you are members of it.

For our knowledge is imperfect, and so is our prophesying;

For the present we see things as if in a mirror, and are puzzled; but then we shall see them face to face. For the present the knowledge I gain is imperfect; but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Be eager in your pursuit of this Love, and be earnestly ambitious for spiritual gifts, but let it be chiefly so in order that you may prophesy.

For he who speaks in an unknown tongue is not speaking to men, but to God; for no one understands him. Yet in the Spirit he is speaking secret truths.

Even inanimate things--flutes or harps, for instance--when yielding a sound, if they make no distinction in the notes, how shall the tune which is played on the flute or the harp be known?

If the bugle--to take another example--gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?

Therefore, seeing that you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in them so as to benefit the Church.

Therefore let a man who has the gift of tongues pray for the power of interpreting them.

For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is barren.

This shows that the gift of tongues is intended as a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers, but prophecy is intended not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged:

For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace, as He is in all the Churches of His people.

Let married women be silent in the Churches, for they are not permitted to speak. They must be content with a subordinate place, as the Law also says;

and if they wish to ask questions, they should ask their own husbands at home. For it is disgraceful for a married woman to speak at a Church assembly.

For I repeated to you the all-important fact which also I had been taught, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;

For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not fit to be called an Apostle--because I persecuted the Church of God.

For if none of the dead are raised to life, then Christ has not risen;

For seeing that death came through man, through man comes also the resurrection of the dead.