ISB ~ 1 Corinthians 14 v7 - 8

Paul compares tongues to musical instruments (14:7) and a military trumpet (14:8). Just as music follows an ordered sequence of notes, and a battle call has a distinctive sound, so the language of tongues has an intelligible meaning in itself. Left untranslated, however, tongues remain incoherent to the congregation, like a string of meaningless noises.