They began to call ¹  Barnabas Zeus ²  and Paul Hermes, ³  because he was the chief speaker.

If then I do not know the meaning of a language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. ¹  He was an eloquent speaker, ²  well-versed ³  in the scriptures.

A slanderer ¹  will not endure on ²  the earth; calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down. ³ 

And even if I am unskilled ¹  in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way.

And if someone sitting down receives a revelation, the person who is speaking should conclude.

Indeed, the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets,

But Moses said before the Lord, “Since I speak with difficulty, ¹  why should Pharaoh listen to me?”

You destroy ¹  liars; ²  the Lord despises ³  violent and deceitful people. ⁴ 

The one who is wise in heart ¹  is called ²  discerning, and kind speech ³  increases persuasiveness. ⁴ 

But if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church. Let him speak to himself and to God.

For you can all prophesy one after another, so all can learn and be encouraged.

The Speaker: ¹  Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, like ²  a fragrant billow ³  of myrrh and frankincense, ⁴  every kind of fragrant powder ⁵  of the traveling merchants? ⁶ 

Your head crowns ¹  you like Mount Carmel. ²  The locks of your hair ³  are like royal tapestries ⁴  – the king is held captive ⁵  in its tresses!

Then Moses said to the Lord, ¹  “O ²  my Lord, ³  I am not an eloquent man, ⁴  neither in the past ⁵  nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” ⁶ 

But Moses replied to ¹  the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then ²  how will Pharaoh listen to me, since ³  I speak with difficulty?” ⁴ 

Then the Lord became angry with ¹  Moses, and he said, “What about ²  your brother Aaron the Levite? ³  I know that he can speak very well. ⁴  Moreover, he is coming ⁵  to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. ⁶ 

The speaker went on to say, “This is a curse ¹  traveling across the whole earth. For example, according to the curse whoever steals ²  will be removed from the community; or on the other hand (according to the curse) whoever swears falsely will suffer the same fate.”

Whoever speaks, let it be with ¹  God’s words. ²  Whoever serves, do so with the strength ³  that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong ⁴  the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.