1 P ero digo también: Mientras el heredero es niño, en nada difiere del esclavo, aunque es señor de todo,

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 s ólo que está bajo tutores y guardianes hasta el tiempo señalado por el 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 A sí también nosotros, cuando éramos niños, vivíamos en esclavitud y sujetos a los principios básicos del mundo.

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

4 P ero cuando se cumplió el tiempo señalado, Dios envió a su Hijo, que nació de una mujer y sujeto a la ley,

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

5 p ara que redimiera a los que estaban sujetos a la ley, a fin de que recibiéramos la adopción de hijos.

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 Y por cuanto ustedes son hijos, Dios envió a sus corazones el Espíritu de su Hijo, el cual clama: «¡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 A sí que ya no eres esclavo, sino hijo; y si eres hijo, también eres heredero de Dios por medio de Cristo. Exhortación contra el volver a la esclavitud

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 C iertamente, en otro tiempo, cuando ustedes no conocían a Dios, servían a los que por naturaleza no son dioses;

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

9 p ero ahora que conocen a Dios, o más bien, que Dios los conoce a ustedes, ¿cómo es que han vuelto de nuevo a los débiles y pobres rudimentos, a los cuales quieren volver a esclavizarse?

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 U stedes guardan los días, los meses, los tiempos y los años.

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

11 ¡ Me temo que, con ustedes, yo he trabajado en vano!

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

12 L es ruego, hermanos, que se hagan como yo, porque yo también me he hecho como ustedes. Ningún agravio me han hecho.

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 B ien saben ustedes que, debido a una enfermedad del cuerpo, les anuncié el evangelio al principio,

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

14 y ustedes no me despreciaron ni desecharon por la prueba que tenía en el cuerpo, sino que me recibieron como a un ángel de Dios, como a Cristo Jesús.

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 ¿ Dónde, pues, está esa satisfacción que experimentaban? Yo doy testimonio de que, de haber podido, ustedes se habrían sacado sus propios ojos, para dármelos.

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 ¿ Acaso me he vuelto enemigo de ustedes, por decirles la verdad?

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

17 A lgunos muestran mucho interés por ustedes, pero no para bien, sino que quieren apartarlos de nosotros para que ustedes muestren interés por ellos.

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 Q ué bien que muestren interés en lo bueno siempre, y no sólo cuando estoy presente con ustedes.

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 H ijitos míos, por quienes vuelvo a sufrir dolores de parto, hasta que Cristo sea formado en ustedes,

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

20 q uisiera estar con ustedes ahora mismo y cambiar de tono, pues ustedes me tienen perplejo. Alegoría de Sara y Agar

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 íganme, ustedes que quieren estar sujetos a la ley: ¿no han oído lo que dice la ley?

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

22 P orque está escrito que Abrahán tuvo dos hijos; uno de la esclava, y el otro de la libre.

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 E l hijo de la esclava nació conforme a una decisión humana; pero el hijo de la libre nació conforme a la promesa.

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 L o cual es una alegoría, pues estas mujeres son los dos pactos; el uno proviene del monte Sinaí, el cual da hijos para esclavitud; éste es 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 P orque Agar es el monte Sinaí en Arabia, y corresponde a la Jerusalén actual, y ésta, junto con sus hijos, está en esclavitud.

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 P ero la Jerusalén de arriba, la cual es madre de todos nosotros, es libre.

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

27 P orque está escrito: «Regocíjate, oh estéril, tú que no das a luz; prorrumpe en júbilo y clama, tú que no tienes dolores de parto; porque más son los hijos de la desolada que los de la que tiene marido.»

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 A sí que, hermanos, nosotros, como Isaac, somos hijos de la promesa.

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

29 P ero como entonces el que había nacido según la carne perseguía al que había nacido según el Espíritu, así también sucede ahora.

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 P ero ¿qué dice la Escritura? «Echa fuera a la esclava y a su hijo, porque el hijo de la esclava no heredará con el hijo de la libre.»

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 D e modo, hermanos, que no somos hijos de la esclava, sino de la libre.

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