4:1 | Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor,* is no different from a slave, though he is the owner* of everything. |
4:2 | But he is under guardians* and managers until the date set by his* father. |
4:3 | So also we, when we were minors,* were enslaved under the basic forces* of the world. |
4:4 | But when the appropriate time* had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, |
4:5 | to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.* |
4:6 | And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls* “Abba!* Father!” |
4:7 | So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are* a son, then you are also an heir through God.* |
4:8 | Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.* |
4:9 | But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless* basic forces?* Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?* |
4:10 | You are observing religious* days and months and seasons and years. |
4:11 | I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain. |
4:12 | I beg you, brothers and sisters,* become like me, because I have become like you. You have done me no wrong! |
4:13 | But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you, |
4:14 | and though my physical condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me.* Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God,* as though I were Christ Jesus himself!* |
4:15 | Where then is your sense of happiness* now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me! |
4:16 | So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?* |
4:17 | They court you eagerly,* but for no good purpose;* they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly.* |
4:18 | However, it is good* to be sought eagerly* for a good purpose* at all times, and not only when I am present with you. |
4:19 | My children – I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you!* |
4:20 | I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice,* because I am perplexed about you. |
4:21 | Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?* |
4:22 | For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the* slave woman and the other by the free woman. |
4:23 | But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent,* while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. |
4:24 | These things may be treated as an allegory,* for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. |
4:25 | Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. |
4:26 | But the Jerusalem above is free,* and she is our mother. |
4:27 | For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children;* break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.”* |
4:28 | But you,* brothers and sisters,* are children of the promise like Isaac. |
4:29 | But just as at that time the one born by natural descent* persecuted the one born according to the Spirit,* so it is now. |
4:30 | But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son”* of the free woman. |
4:31 | Therefore, brothers and sisters,* we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman. |