New King James Version

New Living Translation

1Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,

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.

2but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

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

3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements 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 fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

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

5to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

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.

6And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying 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.”

7Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

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

8But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.

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

9But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

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 observe days and months and 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, lest I have labored for you in vain.

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

12Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all.

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 because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first.

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

14And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ 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 was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own 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.

16Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

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

17They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for 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.

18But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present 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 little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ 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.

20I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about 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, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?

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: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.

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

23But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through 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.

24which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—

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.

25for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage 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 Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.

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

27For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she 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!”

28Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.

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

29But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even 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.

30Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”

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, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

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

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.