Bagalatia 4
1 Tala ndimbola ya makambo oyo nazali koloba: soki mokitani ya libula azali nanu mwana moke, akeseni te na mowumbu, atako ye nde azali nkolo ya biloko nyonso.
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].
2 Akozala na se ya bokonzi ya babokoli mpe ya babateli bomengo kino tango akokokisa mibu oyo tata na ye akataki.
Until the [day that] his father [previously] determined, [other] persons supervise him and manage his father’s property.
3 Ezali mpe ndenge moko mpo na biso: wana tozalaki nanu bana mike, tozalaki bawumbu ya makambo oyo etambolisaka mokili.
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].
4 Kasi tango ngonga oyo Nzambe akataki ekokaki, atindaki Mwana na Ye, oyo abotamaki na mwasi mpe na se ya bokonzi ya Mobeko,
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].
5 mpo na kosikola bato oyo bazali na se ya bokonzi ya Mobeko, mpe mpo na kopesa biso makoki ya kokoma bana na Nzambe.
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].
6 Mpe mpo ete bozali penza bana, Nzambe atindaki Molimo ya Mwana na Ye kati na mitema na biso, Molimo oyo agangaka: « Aba, » elingi koloba: « Tata! »
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].
7 Boye, ozali lisusu mowumbu te, kasi mwana. Mpe mpo ete ozali mwana, Nzambe okomisi yo mokitani ya libula na Ye.
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].
8 Wuta kala, wana boyebaki nanu Nzambe te, bozalaki bawumbu ya banzambe oyo, na bosolo, bazali penza banzambe te.
When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves.
9 Kasi awa boyebi sik’oyo Nzambe to lokola sik’oyo Nzambe ayebi bino, ndenge nini bozongeli lisusu makambo oyo etambolisaka mokili, makambo oyo ezanga nguya mpe tina? Bolingi lisusu komizongisa na se ya bowumbu na yango?
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]
10 Bozali kotosa mikolo, basanza, bileko mpe mibu!
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.
11 Ah! Nazali penza kobanga ete pasi oyo namiyokisaki mpo na bino ekende pamba.
I (worry/am concerned) about your [mistaken ideas. I do not want] to have [so] strenuously served you in vain.
12 Nabondeli bino bandeko na ngai: Bozala lokola ngai, pamba te ngai mpe namikomisaki lokola bino. Bosalaki ngai mabe moko te.
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].
13 Boyebi malamu ete ezali bokono na ngai nde epesaki ngai libaku ya koteya bino Sango Malamu mpo na mbala ya liboso.
You know that the first time I preached to you, [I went to your area to regain my health, because I was physically weak].
14 Atako bongo, botiolaki ngai te mpe boboyaki ngai te mpo na bokono na ngai; nzokande, boyambaki ngai lokola Anjelu na Nzambe, lokola Yesu-Klisto Ye moko.
[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!
15 Esengo na bino ekeyi wapi? Nakoki ata kopesa litatoli oyo na tina na bino: Soki ekokaki kosalema, bolingaki ata kolongola miso na bino mpo na kopesa ngai yango.
(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]!
16 Boni, nakomi sik’oyo monguna na bino mpo ete nazali koloba na bino solo?
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.
17 Bato wana balingi bino makasi, kasi makanisi na bango ezali ya malamu te; bazali na posa ya kokabola bino na ngai mpo ete bokangama na bango.
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].
18 Ezali malamu kozalaka tango nyonso na bolingo eleka ndelo mpo na likambo ya malamu, kasi ezala kaka te tango nazali elongo na bino.
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.
19 Bana na ngai, lokola mwasi oyo azali na pasi ya kobota, nazali lisusu koyoka pasi mpo na bino, kino tango Klisto akosalema kati na bino.
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].
20 Nazali na posa makasi ya kozala sik’oyo elongo na bino mpe koloba na bino na lolenge mosusu, pamba te nayebi lisusu te eloko ya kosala mpo na bino!
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].
21 Bino oyo bolingi kozala na se ya bokonzi ya Mobeko, boyebisa ngai nanu, bososolaka na bino te makambo oyo Mobeko elobaka?
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.
22 Ekomama kati na yango ete Abrayami azalaki na bana mibali mibale: mwasi mowumbu abotelaki ye mwana moko, mpe mwasi nsomi abotelaki ye mwana moko.
[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.
23 Mwana oyo mwasi mowumbu abotelaki Abrayami abotamaki na lolenge ya bomoto, kasi mwana oyo mwasi nsomi abotelaki ye abotamaki kolanda elaka ya Nzambe.
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].
24 Makambo oyo epesami lokola ndakisa: Basi oyo mibale bazali kotalisa boyokani mibale. Moko ewutaki na ngomba Sinai mpe ebotaki bawumbu; yango nde Agari azali kotalisa.
[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].
25 Agari azali ngomba Sinai kati na Arabi, akokani na Yelusalemi ya sik’oyo, pamba te ezali kati na bowumbu elongo na bana na yango.
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].
26 Kasi Yelusalemi ya Likolo ezali nsomi, mpe yango nde ezali mama na biso;
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].
27 pamba te ekomama: « Sepela, mwasi ekomba, yo oyo obotaka te! Sepela makasi mpe ganga na esengo, yo mwasi oyo oyoki nanu pasi ya kobota te! Pamba te bana ya mwasi oyo asundolama bakozala ebele koleka bana ya mwasi oyo azali na mobali. »
[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].
28 Nzokande bino bandeko na ngai, bozali bana ya elaka, lokola Izaki.
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].
29 Kasi ndenge kaka mwana mobali oyo abotamaki na lolenge ya bomoto azalaki na kala konyokola mwana mobali oyo abotamaki na nzela ya nguya ya Molimo, ndenge wana mpe ezali kosalema sik’oyo.
[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].
30 Nzokande Makomi ezali koloba nini? « Bengana mwasi mowumbu elongo na mwana na ye ya mobali, pamba te mwana ya mwasi mowumbu akoki te kokabola libula elongo na mwana mobali ya mwasi nsomi. »
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].
31 Yango wana bandeko na ngai, biso tozali bana ya mwasi mowumbu te, kasi bana ya mwasi nsomi.
[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].
