Galatians 4
1 Then I say, that the heire as long as hee is a childe, differeth nothing from a seruant, though he be Lord of all,
My point is this – as long as the heir is under age, there is no difference between him and a slave, though he is master of the whole estate.
2 But is vnder tutours and gouernours, vntil the time appointed of the Father.
He is subject to the control of guardians and stewards, during the period for which his father has power to appoint them.
3 Euen so, we when wee were children, were in bondage vnder the rudiments of the world.
And so is it with us; when we were under age, as it were, we were slaves to the puerile teaching of this world;
4 But when the fulnesse of time was come, God sent forth his Sonne made of a woman, and made vnder the Lawe,
but, when the full time came, God sent his Son – born a woman’s child, born subject to Law –
5 That hee might redeeme them which were vnder the Law, that we might receiue the adoption of the sonnes.
to ransom those who were subject to Law, so that we might take our position as sons.
6 And because ye are sonnes, God hath sent foorth the Spirit of his Sonne into your heartes, which crieth, Abba, Father.
And it is because you are sons that God sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, with the cry – ‘Abba, our Father.’
7 Wherefore, thou art no more a seruant, but a sonne: now if thou be a sone, thou art also the heire of God through Christ.
You, therefore, are no longer a slave, but a son; and, if a son, then an heir also, by God’s appointment.
8 But euen then, when ye knewe not God, yee did seruice vnto them, which by nature are not gods:
Yet formerly, in your ignorance of God, you became slaves to ‘gods’ which were no gods.
9 But now seeing ye knowe God, yea, rather are knowen of God, howe turne ye againe vnto impotent and beggerly rudiments, whereunto as from the beginning ye wil be in bondage againe?
But now that you have found God – or, rather, have been found by him – how is it that you are turning back to that poor and feeble puerile teaching, to which yet once again you are wanting to become slaves?
10 Ye obserue dayes, and moneths, and times and yeeres.
You are scrupulous in keeping days and months and seasons and years!
11 I am in feare of you, lest I haue bestowed on you labour in vaine.
You make me fear that the labor which I have spent on you may have been wasted.
12 Be ye as I (for I am euen as you) brethren, I beseech you: ye haue not hurt me at all.
I entreat you, friends, to become like me, as I became like you. You have never done me any wrong.
13 And ye know, how through infirmitie of the flesh, I preached ye Gospel vnto you at the first.
You remember that it was owing to bodily infirmity that on the first occasion I told you the good news.
14 And the trial of me which was in my flesh, ye despised not, neither abhorred: but ye receiued me as an Angel of God, yea, as Christ Iesus.
And as for what must have tried you in my condition, it did not inspire you with scorn or disgust, but you welcomed me as if I had been an angel of God – or Christ Jesus himself!
15 What was then your felicitie? for I beare you recorde, that if it had bene possible, ye would haue plucked out your owne eyes, and haue giuen them vnto me.
What has become then, of your blessings? For I can bear witness that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me!
16 Am I therefore become your enemie, because I tell you the trueth?
Am I to think, then, that I have become your enemy by telling you the truth?
17 They are ielous ouer you amisse: yea, they woulde exclude you, that ye shoulde altogether loue them.
Certain people are seeking your favor, but with no honorable object. No, indeed, they want to isolate you, so that you will have to seek their favor.
18 But it is a good thing to loue earnestly alwayes in a good thing, and not onely when I am present with you,
It is always honorable to have your favor sought in an honorable cause, and not only when I am with you, my dear children –
19 My litle children, of whome I trauaile in birth againe, vntill Christ be formed in you.
you for whom I am again enduring a mother’s pains, until a likeness to Christ will have been formed in you.
20 And I would I were with you nowe, that I might change my voyce: for I am in doubt of you.
But I could wish to be with you now and speak in a different tone, for I am perplexed about you.
21 Tell me, ye that will be vnder the Law, doe ye not heare the Lawe?
Tell me, you who want to be still subject to Law – Why don’t you listen to the Law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sonnes, one by a seruant, and one by a free woman.
Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one the child of the slave-woman and the other the child of the free woman.
23 But he which was of the seruant, was borne after the flesh: and he which was of the free woman, was borne by promise.
But the child of the slave-woman was born in the course of nature, while the child of the free woman was born in fulfillment of a promise.
24 By the which things another thing is meant: for these mothers are the two testaments, the one which is Agar of mount Sina, which gendreth vnto bondage.
This story may be taken as an allegory. The women stand for two covenants. One covenant, given from Mount Sinai, produces a race of slaves and is represented by Hagar.
25 (For Agar or Sina is a mountaine in Arabia, and it answereth to Hierusalem which nowe is) and she is in bondage with her children.
Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, and represents the Jerusalem of today, for she and her children are in slavery.
26 But Hierusalem, which is aboue, is free: which is the mother of vs all.
But the Jerusalem above is free, and she it is who is our mother.
27 For it is written, Reioyce thou barren that bearest no children: breake forth, and cry, thou that trauailest not: for the desolate hath many moe children, then she which hath an husband.
For scripture says – ‘Rejoice, you barren one, who have never given birth, break into shouts, you who are never in labor, for many are the children of her who is desolate – yes, more than of her who has a husband.’
28 Therefore, brethren, wee are after the maner of Isaac, children of the promise.
As for ourselves, friends, we, like Isaac, are children born in fulfillment of a promise.
29 But as then hee that was borne after the flesh, persecuted him that was borne after the Spirit, euen so it is nowe.
Yet at that time the child born in the course of nature persecuted the child born by the power of the Spirit; and it is the same now.
30 But what sayth the Scripture? Put out the seruant and her sonne: for the sonne of the seruant shall not be heire with the sonne of the free woman.
But what does the passage of scripture say? ‘Send away the slave-woman and her son; for the slave’s son will not be coheir with the son of the free woman.’
31 Then brethren, we are not children of the seruant, but of the free woman.
And so, friends, we are not children of a slave, but of her who is free.
