Galatians 4

4Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, ²but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. ³Even so we, when we were children, ^awere in bondage under the elements of the world. ⁴But ^bwhen the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, ^cborn ^1dof a woman, ^eborn under the law, ^5fto redeem those who were under the law, ^gthat we might receive the adoption as sons.

⁶And because you are sons, God has sent forth ^hthe Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ²“Abba, Father!” ⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, ⁱand if a son, then an heir ³of God ⁴through Christ.

Fears for the Church

⁸But then, indeed, ^jwhen you did not know God, ^kyou served those which by nature are not gods. ⁹But now ^lafter you have known God, or rather are known by God, ^mhow is it that you turn again to ⁿthe weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? ^10oYou observe days and months and seasons and years. ¹¹I am afraid for you, ^plest I have labored for you in vain.

¹²Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. ^qYou have not injured me at all. ¹³You know that ^rbecause of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. ¹⁴And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me ^sas an ⁵angel of God, ^teven as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵⁶What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

¹⁷They ^uzealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. ¹⁸But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. ^19vMy little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, ²⁰I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.

Two Covenants

²¹Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons: ^wthe one by a bondwoman, ^xthe other by a freewoman. ²³But he who was of the bondwoman ^ywas born according to the flesh, ^zand he of the freewoman through promise, ²⁴which things are symbolic. For these are ⁷the two covenants: the one from Mount ^aSinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—²⁵for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—²⁶but the ^bJerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. ²⁷For it is written:

^c“Rejoice, O barren,

You who do not bear!

Break forth and shout,

You who are not in labor!

For the desolate has many more children

Than she who has a husband.”

²⁸Now ^dwe, brethren, as Isaac was, are ^echildren of promise. ²⁹But, as ^fhe who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^geven so it is now. ³⁰Nevertheless what does ^hthe Scripture say? ⁱ“Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for ^jthe son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” ³¹So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.