Galatians 4

Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

Even if a child is destined to inherit everything, he is no different from a servant until he grows up.

But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

But remains guided and supervised until the father decides it's time.

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

When we were young, we felt trapped by the world's rules and restrictions.

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

When the perfect moment arrived, God lovingly sent His Son, born from a woman, subject to the law, into our world.

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

To liberate those bound by rules, so we may be embraced as children of God.

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Because you are God's children, He has filled your hearts with His Son's Spirit, calling out to Him as your loving Father.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

You're no longer just a servant, you're a cherished child. And as a child of God, through Christ, you're an inheritor of His divine blessings.

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

Before you knew God, you were serving things that naturally aren't divine.

But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Now that you've experienced God's love, why would you return to your old, empty ways, longing for the chains you once wore?

Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

You religiously keep special days, months, seasons, and years.

I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

I worry about you, fearing that all my efforts for you may have been wasted.

Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

My dear friends, I urge you, live as I do, for I live as you do. You've done me no harm at all.

Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

You're aware that despite my physical weakness, I passionately shared the good news with you from the beginning.

And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Despite my struggles and flaws, you didn't judge or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me with open arms, as if I were an angel or even Jesus Christ himself.

Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

Where is the joy you once spoke of? I remember how devoted you were, ready to sacrifice even your own sight for me.

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Have I become your adversary just because I've shared the truth with you?

They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

They passionately influence you, but not for good; indeed, they wish to isolate you, so you might depend on them.

But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

Always be passionate about doing good, not just when I'm around to see it.

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

My dear children, for whom I endure great pain until you fully embody the spirit of Christ within you.

I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

I long to be with you right now, to alter my tone, because I'm uncertain about you.

Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

Those of you who wish to live by the law, are you truly listening to what it demands?

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

In the sacred text, it's noted that Abraham fathered two sons - one with a servant woman, and the other with his wife.

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

The child of the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but the child of the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.

Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

This is a metaphor: the two agreements represent two different paths. The first, from Mount Sinai, leads to enslavement, symbolized by Hagar.

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

This verse means that Agar symbolizes Mount Sinai in Arabia, corresponding to the present-day Jerusalem, and she, along with her descendants, are living in oppression.

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

The heavenly Jerusalem, our spiritual home, is free and nurturing, like a mother to us all.

For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

It's written: celebrate, you who can't bear children; shout for joy, you who have never been in labor: for the woman left alone will have far more children than the woman with a husband.

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

Just like Isaac, my dear friends, we too are the cherished children born of God's promise.

But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Just as in the past, those born of human desire oppressed those born of divine inspiration, the same continues to happen today.

Nevertheless 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.

The scripture insists, remove the servant woman and her child. Because the child of the servant woman won't share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.

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

So, my dear friends, we are not offspring of the enslaved woman, but of the woman who is free.