Galaterbrevet 4
1 Men jag säger: Så länge arfvingen är barn, är ingen åtskillnad emellan honom och en tjenare; ändock han är herre öfver alla ägodelarna;
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 Utan är under förmyndare och föreståndare, intill den tiden som af fadrenom förelagd är.
Until the [day that] his father [previously] determined, [other] persons supervise him and manage his father’s property.
3 Sammalunda ock vi, då vi vorom barn, vore vi tvingade under utvärtes stadgar.
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 Men då tiden vardt fullkommen, sände Gud sin Son, föddan af qvinno, gjordan under lagen;
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 På det han skulle förlossa dem, som under lagen voro, att vi skullom få barnaskapet.
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 Efter I nu ären söner, hafver Gud sändt sins Sons Anda uti edor hjertan, hvilken ropar: Abba, käre Fader.
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 Så är här nu icke mer tjenare, utan son; är han son, så är han ock Guds arfvinge genom Christum.
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 Men den tid I intet känden Gud, tjenten I dem som af naturen icke äro gudar.
When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves.
9 Men nu, medan I Gud känt hafven, ja mycket mer kände ären af Gudi, hvi vänden I eder då om till de svaga och vedertorftiga stadgar igen, hvilkom I på nytt tjena viljen?
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 I hållen dagar och månader, högtider och årstider.
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 Jag fruktar om eder, att jag tilläfventyrs icke hafver fåfängt arbetat på eder.
I (worry/am concerned) about your [mistaken ideas. I do not want] to have [so] strenuously served you in vain.
12 Varer såsom jag är, efter jag ock är såsom I. Käre bröder, jag beder eder, I hafven mig intet emot gjort.
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 I veten, att jag genom köttsens svaghet i förstone predikade eder Evangelium.
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 Och min frestelse, som jag led på köttsens vägnar, hafven I intet föraktat, icke heller försmått, utan anammaden mig såsom en Guds Ängel; ja, såsom Christum Jesum.
[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 Huru salige voren I då? Jag är edart vittne, att om det hade möjeligit varit, haden I edor ögon uttagit, och gifvit mig.
(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 Är jag då nu vorden edar ovän, att jag säger eder sanningen?
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 De nitälska eder icke rätteliga, utan vilja draga eder ifrå mig, att I skolen nitälska dem.
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 Så är nu väl godt nitälska, då det sker om det godt är alltid, och icke allenast då jag tillstädes är.
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 Min kära barn, hvilka jag på nytt föder med ångest, till dess Christus kommer till stadga uti eder.
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 Jag ville väl att jag nu vore när eder, och förvandla kunde mina röst; ty jag vet härnäst ingen råd med eder.
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 Säger mig, I som viljen vara under lagen: Hafven I icke hört lagen?
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 Ty det är skrifvet, att Abraham hade två söner; en af tjensteqvinnone, den andra af den fria.
[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 Men den som var af tjensteqvinnone, han var född efter köttet; men den af de frio, han var född genom löftet.
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 Hvilka ord betyda något; ty dessa äro de tu Testamenten; ett af det berg Sina, som föder till träldom, hvilket är Agar;
[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 Ty Agar heter i Arabien det berg Sina, och sträcker sig emot Jerusalem, det nu är, och är icke fri med sinom barnom.
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 Men det Jerusalem som ofvantill är, det är den fria; hon är allas vår moder.
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 Ty det är skrifvet: Var glad, du ofruktsamma, du som intet föder; brist ut och ropa, du som icke är hafvandes; ty den ensamma hafver flera barn, än den som man hafver.
[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 Men vi, käre bröder, äro löftsens barn efter Isaac.
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 Men såsom den, som då född var efter köttet, förföljde honom som född var efter Andan; så går det ock nu.
[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 Men hvad säger Skriften? Drif ut tjensteqvinnona med hennes son; ty tjensteqvinnones son skall icke blifva arfvinge med dens frios son.
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 Så äro vi nu, käre bröder, icke tjensteqvinnones söner, utan dens frios.
[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].
