Galatians 4

Chapter 4

Sonship in Christ

¹Now I say, as long as the heir is a ¹child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is ²owner of everything,

²but he is under guardians and ¹managers until the date set by the father.

³So also we, while we were children, were held ^ain bondage under the ^1belemental things of the world.

⁴But when ^athe fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, ^bborn of a woman, born ^cunder ¹the Law,

⁵so that He might redeem those who were under ¹the Law, that we might receive the adoption as ^asons.

⁶Because you are sons, ^aGod has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “^bAbba! Father!”

⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and ^aif a son, then an heir ¹through God.

⁸However at that time, ^awhen you did not know God, you were ^bslaves to ^cthose which by nature are no gods.

⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be ^aknown by God, ^bhow is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless ^1celemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

¹⁰You ^aobserve days and months and seasons and years.

¹¹I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored ¹over you in vain.

¹²I beg of you, ^abrethren, ^bbecome as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong;

¹³but you know that it was because of a ¹bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the ²first time;

¹⁴and that which was a ¹trial to you in my ²bodily condition you did not despise or ³loathe, but ^ayou received me as an angel of God, as ^bChrist Jesus Himself.

¹⁵Where then is ¹that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.

¹⁶So have I become your enemy ^aby ¹telling you the truth?

¹⁷They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.

¹⁸But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable ¹manner, and ^anot only when I am present with you.

^19aMy children, with whom ^bI am again in labor until ^cChrist is formed in you—

²⁰but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for ^aI am perplexed about you.

Bond and Free

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not ^alisten to the law?

²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, ^aone by the bondwoman and ^bone by the free woman.

²³But ^athe son by the bondwoman ¹was born according to the flesh, and ^bthe son by the free woman through the promise.

^241aThis is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from ^bMount Sinai bearing children ²who are to be ^cslaves; ³she is Hagar.

²⁵Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

²⁶But ^athe Jerusalem above is free; ¹she is our mother.

²⁷For it is written,

“^aRejoice, barren woman who does not bear;

Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;

For more numerous are the children of the desolate

Than of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸And you brethren, ^alike Isaac, are ^bchildren of promise.

²⁹But as at that time ^ahe who was born according to the flesh ^bpersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^cso it is now also.

³⁰But what does the Scripture say?

“^aCast out the bondwoman and her son,

For ^bthe son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

³¹So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, ¹but of the free woman.