Galatians 4 — GNB
4Verse 1Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth in no respect from a bond-servant, though he is lord of all;Verse 2but is under guardians and stewards, until the time appointed by the father.Verse 3So also we, when we were children, were in bondage under the rudiments of the world;Verse 4but when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,Verse 5to redeem those under the Law, that we might be adopted as sons.Verse 6And to show that ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father!Verse 7So then thou art no longer a bond-servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.Verse 8But at that time, indeed, when ye knew not God, ye were in slavery to those who in their nature are not gods;Verse 9but now, after having known God, or rather having been known by God, how is it that ye are turning back to the weak and beggarly rudiments to which ye wish to be again in bondage?Verse 10Do ye observe days, and months, and times, and years?Verse 11I fear for you, lest I may have bestowed upon you labor in vain.Verse 12Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am, for I also have become as ye are; ye injured me in nothing.Verse 13Nay, ye know that it was on account of an infirmity of the flesh that I preached the gospel to you the former time,Verse 14and my trial which was in my flesh ye did not despise nor spurn; but received me as an angel of God, yea, as Christ Jesus.Verse 15How great then was your boasting of happiness! for I bear you witness, that if possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes, and have given them to me.Verse 16So then, have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?Verse 17They show a zeal for you, but not in honesty; yea, they wish to exclude you, that ye may be zealous for them.Verse 18But it is good to be an object of zeal in what is good always, and not only when I am present with you.Verse 19My children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you,—Verse 20I could wish indeed to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am in perplexity about you.Verse 21Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, do ye not hear the Law?Verse 22For it is written, that Abraham had two sons; the one by the bondwoman, the other by the freewoman.Verse 23But the one by the bondwoman was born after the flesh; while the one by the freewoman was through the promise.Verse 24Which things are written allegorically; for these women are two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai, who beareth children into bondage, which is Hagar;Verse 25for the word Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; and she corresponds to the Jerusalem now existing, for she is in bondage with her children;Verse 26but the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.Verse 27For it is written: “Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for many are the children of the desolate one, rather than of her who hath the husband.”Verse 28But ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of a promise.Verse 29But as at that time he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born through the Spirit, so it is now.Verse 30But what saith the scripture? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”Verse 31So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the freewoman.