Galatians 4
1 Now, I [will further] discuss [children and heirs]: [An heir is a person who will later] control all that his father has. But as long as that heir is a child, others [control] him, with the result that he is just like a slave [MET].
再說：承繼人幾時還是孩童，雖然他是一切家業的主人，卻與奴隸沒有分別，
2 Until the [day that] his father [previously] determined, [other] persons supervise him and manage his father’s property.
仍屬於監護人和代理人的權下，直到父親預定的期限。
3 Likewise, when we [(inc)] (OR, we [(exc) Jews]) were [like] young children [MET], we were controlled by the spiritual powers of this world. They controlled us like [masters control their slaves] [MET].
同樣，當我們以前還作孩童的時候，我們是隸屬今世的蒙學權下；
4 But exactly at the time [MTY] [that God had previously determined], he sent [Jesus], who is (his Son/the man who is also God), into the world. Jesus was born to a [human] mother. He had to obey the laws [that God gave to Moses].
但時期一滿，天主就派遣了自己的兒子來，生於女人，生於法律之下，
5 God sent Jesus in order that he might redeem us who had to obey [God’s] laws. God wanted us all to receive from [God] the status of being his children [MET].
為把在法律之下的人贖出來，使我們獲得義子的地位。
6 Furthermore, we know that we are God’s children because God sent the Spirit, who is intimately related to Jesus, to live in our (inner beings/hearts). [The Spirit enables us to] pray fervently, “Daddy, Father!” [This shows that we are God’s children].
為證實你們確實的天主的子女，天主派遣了自己兒子的聖神，到我們內心喊說：「阿爸，父啊! 」
7 So, [because of what God has done], no longer is [each of] you [like] a slave. Instead, [each of you is] a child [of God]. Furthermore, since [each of you is God’s] child, God has also made you his heir, [one who will receive all that he has promised].
所以你已不再是奴隸，而是兒子了；如果是兒子，賴天主的恩寵，也成了承繼人。
8 When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves.
當你們還不認識天主的時候，服事了一些本來不是神的神；
9 But now you have come to know God. Perhaps [it would be better to say that] now God knows you. [So now you are acting foolishly]! (You are again believing [that by obeying] rules and rites [you will benefit spiritually]! [RHQ] [Those rules are] ineffective and inadequate! You are wanting to [obey them] again [MET] like slaves obey their masters. [RHQ]
但如今你們認識了天主，更好說為天主所認識；那麼，你們怎麼又再回到那無能無用的蒙學裏去，情願再作他們的奴隸呢﹖
10 You [non-Jews] are carefully practicing [Jewish rules and rituals about what you should do] (on [Sabbaths/on Jewish days of rest]) and [on the first day of each] month and on [special] seasons and years.
你們竟又謹守某日、某月、某時、某年!
11 I (worry/am concerned) about your [mistaken ideas. I do not want] to have [so] strenuously served you in vain.
我真為你們擔心，怕我白白地為你們辛苦了。
12 My fellow believers, I strongly urge you that you do as I do. [Stop thinking that you have to obey (Jewish rules and rituals/ceremonial laws]). [When I was with you], I [did not obey all the Jewish rules and rituals], just like you [did not obey them]. [At that time] you treated me entirely as you should have [LIT].
弟兄們! 我懇求你們要像我一樣，因為我曾一度也像你們一樣。你們一點也沒有虧負過我。
13 You know that the first time I preached to you, [I went to your area to regain my health, because I was physically weak].
你們知道：當我初次給你們宣講福音時，正當我身患重病，
14 [Although] you might have [despised me because] I was physically weak, you did not despise me or act contemptuously/disrespectfully toward me. Instead, you welcomed me like [you would welcome] an angel from God. [You welcomed me] like [you would welcome] Christ Jesus!
雖然我的病勢為你們是個試探，你們卻沒有輕看我，也沒有厭棄我，反接待我有如一位天主的天使，有如基督耶穌。
15 (I am disappointed that you have forgotten [that then] you [declared that you were] pleased with [me]./Have you forgotten [that then] you [declared that you were] pleased with [me]?) [RHQ] I can testify that you [would have done anything to help me]. You would have gouged out your eyes [and] given them to me, [if that would have helped me]!
那麼，你們當日所慶幸的在那裡呢﹖我敢為你們作證：如若可能，你們那時也會把你們的眼睛挖出來給我。
16 So I am very disappointed that you [now] act as though [RHQ] I have become hostile to you [because I have kept] speaking the true [message about Christ] to you.
那麼，只因我給你們說實話，就成了你們的仇人嗎﹖
17 Those [who are insisting on obeying Jewish rules] are eagerly [showing interest in] you, but [what they are doing is] not good. They even want you not to associate with [me and other true] believers, because they want you to eagerly show [interest in] them, [not in us].
那些人對你們表示關心，並不懷好好意； 他們只是願意使你們與我隔絕，好叫你們也關心他們。
18 But [just like] it always feels good to have others show that they appreciate you, [I would like you] always [to appreciate me], and not only when I am with you.
受人關心固然是好的，但應懷好意，且該常常如此，並不單是我在你們中間的時候。
19 You [who are like] my children, [once] again I am very worried/concerned about you [MET], [and I will continue to] be worried/concerned until Christ’s [nature becomes developed] in you [completely and wholeheartedly] [MET] [as a child] becomes developed [in his mother’s womb].
我的孩子們! 我願為你們再受產痛，直到基督在你們內形成為止。
20 But I do wish that I could be with you now and that I might talk [more gently with you], because I do not know [what to do about] you [while we are apart].
恨不得我現今就在你們跟前，改變我的聲調，因為我對你們實在放心不下。
21 Some of you desire [to obey all the laws] that God gave Moses. [I say that] you [should] consider [RHQ] [the implications of what Moses wrote in] the Scriptures.
你們願意屬於法律的，請告訴我：你們沒有聽見法律說什麼嗎﹖
22 [He] wrote that Abraham became the father of two sons. His female slave, [Hagar], bore one son, and his [wife Sarah], who was not a slave, bore the other.
法律曾記載說：亞巴郎有兩個兒子：一個生於婢女，一個生於自由的婦人。
23 Also, [the sons differed. Ishmael], the [son born by] the female slave, was conceived naturally. But [Isaac], the [son born by] his wife who was not a slave, was conceived [miraculously] as a result of what [God] had promised [Abraham].
那生於婢女的，是按常例而生的；但那生於自由婦人的，卻是因恩許而生的。
24 [I am telling you this] as an illustration. These [two women] symbolize two agreements. [God made] the first [agreement, which involved obeying the laws that God gave to Moses] at Sinai Mountain. [Because that agreement forces those who accept it to keep obeying all its rules] [MET], [it is like a slave mother who] gives birth to slaves. [So] Hagar, [the female slave, symbolizes] that [agreement].
這都含有寓意：那兩個婦人是代表兩個盟約：一是出於西乃山，生子為奴，那即是哈加爾──
25 Also, the [word] ‘Hagar’ is [associated with] Sinai Mountain, [which is] in Arabia [land. Hagar, the female slave, also] represents Jerusalem as it is today. Jerusalem is [like] [MET] a slave [mother, and those who live there] [PRS] [are like] her slave children [MET] [because they all must obey the laws that God gave to Moses].
西乃山是在阿剌伯──這哈加爾相當於現在的耶路撒冷，因為耶路撒冷與她的子女同為奴隸。
26 But there will be a [new] Jerusalem in heaven [MTY], and we [who will go there] are free [from having to obey Jewish laws]. We [who belong to that city consider it to be] our mother [MET] [city because we are God’s true children].
然而那屬於天上的耶路撒冷卻是自由的，她就是我們的母親：
27 [Our new city will have more people than those who live in Jerusalem now. It will be just like] Isaiah foretold about [the people whom he expected would come back to Jerusalem from exile. He expected that they would be more numerous than those who] were taken into exile. He wrote: [You who live in Jerusalem, you will] rejoice! Now you have no children, like a barren [woman] who does not give birth to [children! But some day you will] shout [joyfully], (without restraint/as loudly as you can), [even though now you are few in number, like a woman who] cannot give birth [to children, and you] feel deserted. [You will be very happy] because [you will have many children who will come to you. Those children will be] more than [the children] any woman with a husband [could have borne].
誠如經上記載說：『不生育的石女，喜樂罷! 未經產痛的女人，歡呼高唱罷! 因為被棄者的子女比有夫者的子女還多。』
28 Now, [my] fellow believers, you have become children [of God as a result of believing God’s] promise to us, as Isaac [was born as a result of Abraham believing what God promised to him] [MET].
弟兄們! 你們像依撒格一樣，是恩許的子女。
29 [Also, long ago Abraham’s son] Ishmael, the one who was conceived naturally, caused trouble for [Abraham’s son] Isaac, who [was conceived] supernaturally [MET]. Similarly, now [those who think that we must obey the laws that God gave Moses in order that God will save us are causing trouble for those who are trusting Abraham’s descendant, Christ].
但是，先前那按常例而生的怎樣迫害了那按神恩而生的，如今還是這樣。
30 But these are [RHQ] the words in the Scriptures [PRS]: “The son of the [woman] who was not a slave will inherit [what his father has]. The female slave’s son will certainly not inherit those things. So send away from [this place] the female slave and her son [MET]!” [That means that you should certainly expel from your groups those who insist that we obey all the laws God gave Moses] [MET].
然而經上說了什麼﹖『你將婢女和她的兒子趕走，因為婢女的兒子不能與自由婦人的兒子，一同承受家業。』
31 [My] fellow believers, [Hagar symbolizes the laws that God gave to Moses. But we are not those who must obey all the laws that God gave to Moses] [MET]. [So] we are not [the] female slave [Hagar’s spiritual] descendants [MET]. But [Sarah’s descendants are those who were born as a result of believing what God promised to Abraham. So we are] the [spiritual] descendants of [Sarah, the woman] who was not a slave [MET].
所以，弟兄們，我們不是婢女的子女，而是自由婦人的子女。
