1 O ra io dico che per tutto il tempo che l'erede è minorenne non è affatto differente dal servo, benché sia signore di tutto,

Let me say this another way. A young child who will get all the riches of his family is not different from a servant who is owned by the family. And yet the young child owns everything.

2 m a egli è sotto tutori e amministratori fino al tempo prestabilito dal padre.

While he is young, he is cared for by men his father trusts. These men tell the child what he can and cannot do. The child cannot do what he wants to do until he has become a certain age.

3 C osí anche noi, mentre eravamo minorenni, eravamo tenuti in servitú sotto gli elementi del mondo,

We were as children also held by the Law. We obeyed the Law in our religious worship.

4 m a, quando è venuto il compimento del tempo, Dio ha mandato suo Figlio, nato da donna, sottoposto alla legge,

But at the right time, God sent His Son. A woman gave birth to Him under the Law.

5 p erché riscattasse quelli che erano sotto la legge, affinché noi ricevessimo l'adozione.

This all happened so He could buy with His blood and make free all those who were held by the Law. Then we might become the sons of God.

6 O ra perché voi siete figli, Dio ha mandato lo Spirito del Figlio suo nei vostri cuori che grida: «Abba, Padre»,

Because you are the sons of God, He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The Spirit cries, “Father!”

7 P erciò tu non sei piú servo, ma figlio; e se sei figlio, sei anche erede di Dio per mezzo di Cristo.

So now you are no longer a servant who is owned by someone. You are a son. If you are a son, then you will receive what God has promised through Christ.

8 M a allora, non conoscendo Dio, servivate a coloro che per natura non sono dèi;

During the time when you did not know God, you worshiped false gods.

9 o ra invece, avendo conosciuto Dio, anzi essendo piuttosto stati conosciuti da Dio, come mai vi rivolgete di nuovo ai deboli e poveri elementi, ai quali desiderate di essere di nuovo asserviti?

But now that you know God, or should I say that you are known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak old Law? Why do you want to do those religious acts of worship that will keep you from being free? Why do you want to be held under the power of the Law again?

10 V oi osservate giorni, mesi, stagioni e anni.

You do special things on certain days and months and years and times of the year.

11 I o temo di essermi affaticato invano per voi.

I am afraid my work with you was wasted. Living by the Law or Being Free

12 S iate come me, perché anch'io sono come voi; fratelli, ve ne prego, voi non mi avete fatto alcun torto.

I ask you, Christian brothers, stay free from the Law as I am. Even if I am a Jew, I became free from the Law, just as you who are not Jews. You did no wrong to me.

13 O ra voi sapete come nel passato io vi evangelizzai a causa di una infermità della carne;

You know I preached the Good News to you the first time because of my sickness.

14 e voi non disprezzaste né aveste a schifo la prova che era nella mia carne ma mi accoglieste come un angelo di Dio, come Cristo Gesú stesso.

Even though I was hard to look at because of my sickness, you did not turn away from me. You took me in as an angel from God. You took me in as you would have taken in Christ Jesus Himself.

15 C os'è dunque avvenuto della vostra allegrezza? Poiché vi rendo testimonianza che, se fosse stato possibile, vi sareste cavati gli occhi e me li avreste dati.

What has become of the happiness you once had? You would have taken out your own eyes if you could have and given them to me.

16 S ono dunque diventato vostro nemico, dicendovi la verità?

Do you hate me because I have told you the truth?

17 Q uelli sono zelanti per voi, ma non per fini onesti; anzi essi vi vogliono separare affinché siate zelanti per loro.

Those false teachers are trying to turn your eyes toward them. They do not want you to follow my teaching. What they are doing is not good.

18 O r è buona cosa essere sempre zelanti nel bene, e non solo quando sono presente fra voi.

It is good when people help you if they do not hope to get something from it. They should help you all the time, not only when I am with you.

19 F igli miei, che io partorisco di nuovo, finché Cristo sia formato in voi!

My children, I am suffering birth pain for you again. I will suffer until Christ’s life is in your life.

20 D esidererei ora essere presente fra voi e cambiare il tono della mia voce perché sono perplesso di voi.

I wish I could be with you now. I wish I could speak to you in a more gentle voice, but I am troubled about you.

21 D itemi, voi che volete essere sotto la legge, non date ascolto alla legge?

Listen! If you want to be under the Law, why do you not listen to what it says?

22 I nfatti sta scritto che Abrahamo ebbe due figli: uno dalla serva e uno dalla libera.

The Holy Writings say that Abraham had two sons. One was born from a woman servant (Hagar) who was owned by someone. She had to do what she was told. The other son was born from a woman (Sarah) who was free to work and live as she desired.

23 O r quello che nacque dalla serva fu generato secondo la carne, ma quello che nacque dalla libera fu generato in virtú della promessa.

The son born from the woman servant who was owned by someone was like any other birth. The son born from the free woman was different. That son had been promised by God.

24 T ali cose hanno un senso allegorico, perché queste due donne sono due patti: uno dal monte Sinai che genera a schiavitú, ed è Agar.

Think of it like this: These two women show God’s two ways of working with His people. The children born from Hagar are under the Law given on Mount Sinai. They will be servants who are owned by someone and will always be told what to do!

25 O r Agar è il monte Sinai in Arabia e corrisponde alla Gerusalemme del tempo presente; ed essa è schiava con i suoi figli.

Hagar is known as Mount Sinai in the country of Arabia. She is as Jerusalem is today, because she and her children are not free to do what they want to do.

26 I nvece la Gerusalemme di sopra è libera ed è la madre di noi tutti.

But the Jerusalem of heaven is the free woman, and she is our mother.

27 I nfatti sta scritto: «Rallegrati, o sterile che non partorisci! Prorompi e grida, tu che non senti doglie di parto, perché i figli dell'abbandonata saranno piú numerosi di quelli di colei che aveva marito».

The Holy Writings say, “Woman, be happy, you who have had no children. Cry for joy, you who have never had the pains of having a child, for you will have many children. Yes, you will have more children than the one who has a husband.”

28 O ra noi, fratelli, alla maniera di Isacco, siamo figli della promessa.

Christian brothers, we are like Isaac. We are the children God promised.

29 M a, come allora colui che era generato secondo la carne perseguitava colui che era generato secondo lo Spirito, cosí avviene al presente.

At that time the son born as other children are born made it hard for the son born by the Holy Spirit. It is the same way now.

30 M a che dice la Scrittura? «Caccia via la schiava e suo figlio, perché il figlio della schiava non sarà erede col figlio della libera».

But what do the Holy Writings say? They say, “Put the woman servant who is owned by someone and her son out of your home. The son of that woman servant will never get any of the riches of the family. It will all be given to the son of the free woman.”

31 C osí dunque, fratelli, noi non siamo figli della schiava ma della libera.

Christian brothers, we are not children of the woman servant who was owned by someone (Hagar). We are children of the free woman (Sarah).