Speaking in tongues has inspired Christians for centuries. This New Testament gift represents a direct way to communicate with God. Many see it as a powerful manifestation of the Holy Spirit, offering personal and communal edification. These 85 Bible verses about speaking in tongues explains its purpose, significance, and proper use, highlighting its miraculous nature and the need for order and interpretation.

Gift of Tongues

• 1 Corinthians 12:10 – “to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:28 – “And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:30 – “Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?”
• 1 Corinthians 14:2 – “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:4 – “Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:5 – “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.”

Purpose and Benefit of Tongues

• Acts 2:4 – “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
• Romans 8:26 – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:13 – “For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:14 – “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:16 – “Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?”

Tongues and Prophecy

• 1 Corinthians 14:19 – “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:27 – “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:29 – “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:30 – “And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:31 – “For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:32 – “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.”

Order in Worship and Speaking in Tongues

• 1 Corinthians 14:26 – “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:34 – “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:35 – “If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:36 – “Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?”
• 1 Corinthians 14:37 – “If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:38 – “But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.”
• Ephesians 5:19 – “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,”
• Colossians 3:16 – “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
• James 3:5 – “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”
• James 3:6 – “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

The Holy Spirit’s Role in Speaking in Tongues

• John 14:26 – “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
• John 15:26 – “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”
• John 16:13 – “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
• John 16:14 – “He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
• Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
• Romans 8:15 – “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.””
• Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
• 1 Corinthians 2:10 – “these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”
• 1 Corinthians 2:11 – “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
• 1 Corinthians 2:12 – “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

Interpretation of Tongues

• 1 Corinthians 14:28 – “If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:39 – “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.”
• Acts 2:8 – “Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?”

Tongues and the Early Church

• Acts 2:6 – “When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.”
• Acts 2:11 – “both Jews and converts to Judaism; Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
• Acts 2:12 – “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?””
• Acts 2:13 – “Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.””
• Acts 2:15 – “These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!”
• Acts 2:16 – “No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:”
• Acts 2:17 – “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”
• Acts 2:18 – “Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”
• Acts 2:33 – “Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”
• Acts 2:38 – “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Speaking in Tongues as a Spiritual Gift

• Romans 12:6 – “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;”
• Romans 12:8 – “if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:4 – “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:5 – “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:6 – “There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:7 – “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:8 – “To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,”
• 1 Corinthians 12:9 – “to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,”
• 1 Corinthians 12:11 – “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”

Encouragement in the Use of Tongues

• 1 Corinthians 14:1 – “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:3 – “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:12 – “So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.”
• 1 Thessalonians 5:19 – “Do not quench the Spirit.”

Tongues in the Old Testament Prophecy

• Isaiah 28:11 – “Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,”
• Isaiah 28:12 – “to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest,” and, “This is the place of repose”—but they would not listen.”
• Isaiah 28:13 – “So then, the word of the Lord to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there—so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured.”
• Jeremiah 5:15 – “People of Israel,” declares the Lord, “I am bringing a distant nation against you—an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand.”
• Deuteronomy 28:49 – “The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,”
• Genesis 11:6 – “The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”
• Genesis 11:7 – “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.””
• Zephaniah 3:9 – ““Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.”
• Isaiah 32:4 – “The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.”

Tongues as a Sign

• Mark 16:17 – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;”
• Acts 10:46 – “For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,”
• Acts 19:6 – “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:40 – “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.”

Understanding and Edification of Speaking in Tongues

• 1 Corinthians 14:6 – “Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?”
• 1 Corinthians 14:15 – “So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:17 – “You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:18 – “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:27 – “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.”

Prophecy and Tongues

• 1 Corinthians 14:22 – “Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:23 – “So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?”
• 1 Corinthians 14:24 – “But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all,”

 

Conclusion