4:1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor,¹ is no different from a slave, though he is the owner² of everything. 4:2 But he is under guardians³ and managers until the date set by his⁴ father. 4:3 So also we, when we were minors,⁵ we were enslaved under the basic forces⁶ of the world. 4:4 But when the appropriate time⁷ had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.⁸ 4:6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, calling “Abba!⁹ Father!” 4:7 So you are no longer a slave but a son; and if you are¹⁰ a son, then you are also an heir through God.

4:8 Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all.¹¹ 4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless¹² basic forces?¹³ Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?¹⁴ 4:10 You are observing religious¹⁵ days and months and seasons and years. 4:11 I fear for you that my work for you may have been in vain. 4:12 I beg you, brothers and sisters,¹⁶ become like me, because I have become like you. You have done me no wrong!

4:13 But you know it was because of a physical illness that I first proclaimed the gospel to you, 4:14 and though my physical condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me.¹⁷ Instead, you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God,¹⁸ as though I were Christ Jesus himself!¹⁹ 4:15 Where then is your sense of happiness²⁰ now? For I testify about you that if it were possible, you would have pulled out your eyes and given them to me! 4:16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?²¹

4:17 They seek you eagerly,²² but for no good purpose;²³ they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly.²⁴ 4:18 However, it is good²⁵ to be sought eagerly²⁶ for a good purpose²⁷ at all times, and not only when I am present with you. 4:19 My children—I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you!²⁸ 4:20 I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice,²⁹ because I am perplexed about you.

4:21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?³⁰ 4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the³¹ slave woman and the other by the free woman. 4:23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent,³² while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. 4:24 These things may be allegorized,³³ for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. 4:25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 4:26 But the Jerusalem above is free,³⁴ and she is our mother. 4:27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains; because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.”³⁵

4:28 But you,³⁶ brothers and sisters,³⁷ are children of the promise like Isaac. 4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent³⁸ persecuted the one born according to the Spirit,³⁹ so it is now. 4:30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son”⁴⁰ of the free woman. 4:31 Therefore, brothers and sisters,⁴¹ we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.