1 A nd I say, so long time as the heir is a babe, he differeth nothing from a servant -- being lord of all,

Now what I mean is that as long as the inheritor (heir) is a child and under age, he does not differ from a slave, although he is the master of all the estate;

2 b ut is under tutors and stewards till the time appointed of the father,

But he is under guardians and administrators or trustees until the date fixed by his father.

3 s o also we, when we were babes, under the elements of the world were in servitude,

So we also, when we were minors, were kept like slaves under the elementary teachings of a system of external observations and regulations.

4 a nd when the fulness of time did come, God sent forth His Son, come of a woman, come under law,

But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to the Law,

5 t hat those under law he may redeem, that the adoption of sons we may receive;

To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have sonship conferred upon us.

6 a nd because ye are sons, God did send forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, `Abba, Father!'

And because you are sons, God has sent the '> Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father!

7 s o that thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ.

Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then an heir by the aid of God, through Christ.

8 B ut then, indeed, not having known God, ye were in servitude to those not by nature gods,

But at that previous time, when you had not come to be acquainted with and understand and know the true God, you were in bondage to gods who by their very nature could not be gods at all.

9 a nd now, having known God -- and rather being known by God -- how turn ye again unto the weak and poor elements to which anew ye desire to be in servitude?

Now, however, that you have come to be acquainted with and understand and know God, or rather to be understood and known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly and worthless elementary things '> of all religions before Christ came], whose slaves you once more want to become?

10 d ays ye observe, and months, and times, and years!

You observe days and months and seasons and years!

11 I am afraid of you, lest in vain I did labour toward you.

I am alarmed, lest I have labored among and over you to no purpose and in vain.

12 B ecome as I -- because I also as ye brethren, I beseech you; to me ye did no hurt,

Brethren, I beg of you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are '> a Gentile]. You did me no wrong '> in the days when I first came to you; do not do it now].

13 a nd ye have known that through infirmity of the flesh I did proclaim good news to you at the first,

On the contrary, you know that it was on account of a bodily ailment that preached the Gospel to you the first time.

14 a nd my trial that in my flesh ye did not despise nor reject, but as a messenger of God ye did receive me -- as Christ Jesus;

And although my physical condition was a trial to you, you did not regard it with contempt, or scorn and loathe and reject me; but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus!

15 w hat then was your happiness? for I testify to you, that if possible, your eyes having plucked out, ye would have given to me;

What has become of that blessed enjoyment and satisfaction and self-congratulation that once was yours ? For I bear you witness that you would have torn out your own eyes and have given them to me, if that were possible.

16 s o that your enemy have I become, being true to you?

Have I then become your enemy by telling the truth to you and dealing sincerely with you?

17 t hey are zealous for you -- not well, but they wish to shut us out, that for them ye may be zealous;

These men are zealously trying to dazzle you, but their purpose is not honorable or worthy or for any good. What they want to do is to isolate you, so that they may win you over to their side and get you to court their favor.

18 a nd good to be zealously regarded, in what is good, at all times, and not only in my being present with you;

It is always a fine thing to be zealously sought after for a good purpose and done by reason of purity of heart and life, and not just when I am present with you!

19 m y little children, of whom again I travail in birth, till Christ may be formed in you,

My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,

20 a nd I was wishing to be present with you now, and to change my voice, because I am in doubt about you.

Would that I were with you now and could coax you vocally, for I am fearful and perplexed about you!

21 T ell me, ye who are willing to be under law, the law do ye not hear?

Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, will you listen to what the Law says?

22 f or it hath been written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the maid-servant, and one by the free-woman,

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid and one by the free woman.

23 b ut he who of the maid-servant, according to flesh hath been, and he who of the free-woman, through the promise;

But whereas the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.

24 w hich things are allegorized, for these are the two covenants: one, indeed, from mount Sinai, to servitude bringing forth, which is Hagar;

Now all this is an allegory; these represent two covenants. One covenant originated from Mount Sinai and bears for slavery; this is Hagar.

25 f or this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and doth correspond to the Jerusalem that now, and is in servitude with her children,

Now Hagar is (stands for) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to and belongs in the same category with the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage together with her children.

26 a nd the Jerusalem above is the free-woman, which is mother of us all,

But the Jerusalem above ( the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother.

27 f or it hath been written, `Rejoice, O barren, who art not bearing; break forth and cry, thou who art not travailing, because many the children of the desolate -- more than of her having the husband.'

For it is written in the Scriptures, Rejoice, O barren woman, who has not given birth to children; break forth into a joyful shout, you who are not feeling birth pangs, for the desolate woman has many more children than she who has a husband.

28 A nd we, brethren, as Isaac, are children of promise,

But we, brethren, are children '> not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise.

29 b ut as then he who was born according to the flesh did persecute him according to the spirit, so also now;

Yet as at that time the child born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him according to the Spirit, so it is now also.

30 b ut what saith the Writing? `Cast forth the maid-servant and her son, for the son of the maid-servant may not be heir with the son of the free-woman;'

But what does the Scripture say? Cast out and send away the slave woman and her son, for never shall the son of the slave woman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.

31 t hen, brethren, we are not a maid-servant's children, but the free-woman's.

So, brethren, we are not children of a slave woman '> the natural], but of the free '> the supernatural].