Galatians 4 ISV NLT Parallel

◄ Galatians 4 ►

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1Now what I am saying is this: As long as an heir is a child, he is no better off than a slave, even though he owns everything.

1Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had.

2Instead, he is placed under the care of guardians and servant managers until the time set by the father.

2They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set.

3It was the same way with us. While we were children, we were slaves to the basic principles of the world.

3And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

4But when the appropriate time had come, God sent his Son, born by a woman, born under the Law,

4But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.

5in order to redeem those who were under the Law, and thus to adopt them as his children.

5God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

6Now because you are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, "Abba! Father!"

6And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if you are a child, then you are also an heir because of what God did.

7Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

8However, in the past, when you did not know God, you were slaves to things that are not really gods at all.

8Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist.

9But now that you know God, or rather have been known by God, how can you turn back again to those powerless and bankrupt basic principles? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?

9So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?

10You are observing days, months, seasons, and years.

10You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.

11I am afraid for you! I don't want my work for you to have been wasted!

11I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.

12I beg you, brothers, to become like me, since I became like you. You did not do anything wrong to me.

12Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws. You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you.

13You know that it was because I was ill that I brought you the gospel the first time.

13Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News.

14Even though my condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. On the contrary, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, or as if I were the Messiah Jesus.

14But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself.

15What, then, happened to your positive attitude? For I testify that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

15Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible.

16So have I now become your enemy for telling you the truth?

16Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?

17These people who have been instructing you are devoted to you, but not in a good way. They want you to avoid me so that you will be devoted to them.

17Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them.

18(Now it is always good to be devoted to a good cause, even when I am not with you.)

18If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.

19My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until the Messiah is formed in you.

19Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.

20Indeed, I wish I were with you right now so that I could change the tone of my voice, because I am completely baffled by you!

20I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you. Abraham’s Two Children

21Tell me, those of you who want to live under the Law: Are you really listening to what the Law says?

21Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says?

22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman.

22The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.

23Now the slave woman's son was conceived through human means, while the free woman's son was conceived through divine promise.

23The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

24This is being said as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. The one woman, Hagar, is from Mount Sinai, and her children are born into slavery.

24These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them.

25Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery along with her children.

25And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law.

26But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother.

26But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother.

27For it is written, "Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband."

27As Isaiah said, “Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!”

28So you, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac.

28And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac.

29But just as then the son who was conceived according to the flesh persecuted the son who was conceived according to the Spirit, so it is now.

29But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

30But what does the Scripture say? "Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman."

30But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”

31So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.

31So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

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