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].
But Y seie, as long tyme as the eir is a litil child, he dyuersith no thing fro a seruaunt, whanne he is lord of alle thingis;
2 Until the [day that] his father [previously] determined, [other] persons supervise him and manage his father’s property.
but he is vndur keperis and tutoris, in to the tyme determyned of the fadir.
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].
So we, whanne we weren litle children, we serueden vndur the elementis of the world.
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].
But aftir that the fulfilling of tyme cam, God sente his sone,
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].
maad of a womman, maad vndur the lawe, that he schulde ayenbie hem that weren vndur the lawe, that we schulden vnderfonge the adopcioun of sones.
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].
And for ye ben Goddis sones, God sente his spirit in to youre hertis, criynge, Abba, fadir.
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].
And so ther is not now a seruaunt, but a sone; and if he is a sone, he is an eir bi God.
8 When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves.
But thanne ye vnknowynge God, serueden to hem that in kynde weren not goddis.
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]
But now whanne ye han knowe God, and ben knowun of God, hou ben ye turned eftsoone to the febil and nedi elementis, to the whiche ye wolen eft serue?
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.
Ye taken kepe to daies, and monethis, and tymes, and yeris.
11 I (worry/am concerned) about your [mistaken ideas. I do not want] to have [so] strenuously served you in vain.
But Y drede you, lest without cause Y haue trauelid among you.
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].
Be ye as Y, for Y am as ye. Britheren, Y biseche you, ye han hurt me no thing.
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].
But ye knowen, that bi infirmyte of fleisch Y haue prechid to you now bifore;
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!
and ye dispiseden not, nether forsoken youre temptacioun in my fleisch, but ye resseyueden me as an aungel of God, as `Crist Jhesu.
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]!
Where thanne is youre blessyng? For Y bere you witnesse, that if it myyte haue be don. ye wolden haue put out youre iyen, and haue yyuen hem to me.
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.
Am Y thanne maad an enemye to you, seiynge to you the sothe?
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].
Thei louen not you wel, but thei wolen exclude you, that ye suen hem.
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.
But sue ye the good euermore in good, and not oneli whanne Y am present with you.
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].
My smale children, whiche Y bere eftsoones, til that Crist be fourmed in you,
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].
and Y wolde now be at you, and chaunge my vois, for Y am confoundid among you.
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.
Seie to me, ye that wolen be vndir the lawe, `han ye not red the lawe?
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.
For it is writun, that Abraham hadde two sones, oon of a seruaunt, and oon of a fre womman.
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].
But he that was of the seruaunt, was borun after the flesh; but he that was of the fre womman, by a biheeste.
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].
The whiche thingis ben seid bi an othir vndirstonding. For these ben two testamentis; oon in the hille of Synai, gendringe in to seruage, which is Agar.
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].
For Syna is an hille that is in Arabie, which hille is ioyned to it that is now Jerusalem, and seruith with hir children.
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].
But that Jerusalem that is aboue, is fre, whiche is oure modir.
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].
For it is writun, Be glad, thou bareyn, that berist not; breke out and crye, that bringist forth no children; for many sones ben of hir that is left of hir hosebonde, more than of hir that hath an hosebonde.
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].
For, britheren, we ben sones of biheeste aftir Isaac;
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].
but now as this that was borun after the fleisch pursuede him that was aftir the spirit, so now.
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].
But what seith the scripture? Caste out the seruaunt and hir sone, for the sone of the seruaunt schal not be eir with the sone of the fre wijf.
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].
And so, britheren, we ben not sones of the seruaunt, but of the fre wijf, bi which fredom Crist hath maad vs fre.
