Galatians 4:21–5:1

Example of Hagar and Sarah

²¹Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, ^eone by a slave woman and ^fone by a free woman. ²³But ^gthe son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while ^hthe son of the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two ⁱcovenants. ^jOne is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;⁵ she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶But ^kthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷For it is written,

^l“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than those of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸Now you,⁶ brothers, ^mlike Isaac, ⁿare children of promise. ²⁹But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh ^opersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^pso also it is now. ³⁰But what does the Scripture say? ^q“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but ^rof the free woman.

Christ Has Set Us Free

5For ^sfreedom Christ has ^tset us free; ^ustand firm therefore, and do not submit again to ^va yoke of ^wslavery.