Now I say, That ^athe heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; ²But is under ^btutors and ^cgovernors until the time appointed of the father. ³Even so we, when we were children, ^dwere in bondage under ^ethe ^||elements of the world: ⁴But ^fwhen the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, ^gmade ^hof a woman, ^gmade ⁱunder the law, ⁵^kTo redeem them that were under the law, that ^lwe might receive the adoption of sons.

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Footnotes

ach. 3:29.
b 2 Macc. 11:1 marg. See Matt. 20:8.
cComp. Gen. 24:2.
dSee ch. 2:4.
e Col. 2:8, 20 marg.
||Or, rudiments. ver. 9. Heb. 5:12 (Gk.). Comp. 2 Pet. 3:10, 12.
fSee Mark 1:15.
g John 1:14. Rom. 1:3. Phil. 2:7. So Heb. 2:14, 17.
hSee Gen. 3:15.
g John 1:14. Rom. 1:3. Phil. 2:7. So Heb. 2:14, 17.
iSo Matt. 5:17. Luke 2:27.
kch. 3:13. So 1 Pet. 1:18, 19. See Matt. 20:28.
lSee Rom. 8:15. & ch. 3:26.

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In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements of the world. When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

NLTNew Living Translation

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Now I say, for as long a time as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is master of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the time set by his father. So also we, when we were children, we were enslaved under the elemental spirits of the world. But when the fullness of time came, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those under the law, in order that we might receive the adoption.