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¹This is what I am saying: When young children inherit all that their father owned, they are still no different from his slaves. It doesn't matter that they own everything. ²While they are children, they must obey those who are chosen to care for them. But when they reach the age the father set, they are free. ³It is the same for us. We were once like children, slaves to the useless rulesa of this world. ⁴But when the right time came, God sent his Son, who was born from a woman and lived under the law. ⁵God did this so that he could buy the freedom of those who were under the law. God's purpose was to make us his children.
⁶Since you are now God's children, he has sent the Spiritb of his Son into your hearts. The Spirit cries out, "Abbac, Father." ⁷Now you are not slaves like before. You are God's children, and you will receive everything he promised his children.

Paul’s Love for the Galatian Believers ⁸In the past you did not know God. You were slaves to gods that were not real. ⁹But now you know the true God. Really, though, it is God who knows you. So why do you turn back to the same kind of weak and useless rules you followed before? Do you want to be slaves to those things again? ^10-¹¹It worries me that you follow teachings about special days, months, seasons, and years. I fear that my work for you has been wasted.
¹²Brothers and sisters, I became like you. So please become like me. You were very good to me before. ¹³You know that I came to you the first time because I was sick. That was when I told the Good Newsd to you. ¹⁴My sickness was a burden to you, but you did not stop showing me respect or make me leave. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel from God. You accepted me as if I were Jesus Christ himself! ¹⁵You were very happy then. Where is that joy now? I can say without a doubt that you would have done anything to help me. If it had been possible, you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Am I now your enemy because I tell you the truth?
¹⁷Those peoplee are working hard to persuade you, but this is not good for you. They want to persuade you to turn against us and work hard for them. ¹⁸It is good for you to work hard, of course, if it is for something good. That's something you should do whether I am there or not. ¹⁹My little children, I am in pain again over you, like a mother giving birth. I will feel this pain until people can look at you and see Christ. ²⁰I wish I could be with you now. Then maybe I could change the way I am talking to you. Now I don't know what to do about you.

The Example of Hagar and Sarah ²¹Some of you people want to be under the lawf. Tell me, do you know what the law says? ²²The Scripturesg say that Abrahamh had two sons. The mother of one son was a slave woman, and the mother of the other son was a free woman. ²³Abraham's son from the slave woman was born in the normal human way. But the son from the free woman was born because of the promise God made to Abraham.
²⁴This true story makes a picture for us. The two women are like the two agreements between God and his people. One agreement is the law that God made on Mount Sinaii. The people who are under this agreement are like slaves. The mother named Hagar is like that agreement. ²⁵So Hagar is like Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is a picture of the earthly Jewish city of Jerusalem. This city is a slave, and all its people are slaves to the law. ²⁶But the heavenly Jerusalem that is above is like the free woman, who is our mother. ²⁷The Scriptures say,

"Be happy, woman - you who cannot have children. Be glad you never gave birth.
Shout and cry with joy! You never felt those labor pains.
The woman who is alonej will have more children than the woman who has a husband."k

²⁸My brothers and sisters, you are children who were born because of God's promise, just as Isaac was. ²⁹But the other son of Abraham, who was born in the normal way, caused trouble for the one who was born by the power of the Spiritb. It is the same today. ³⁰But what do the Scriptures say? "Throw out the slave woman and her son! The son of the free woman will receive everything his father has, but the son of the slave woman will receive nothing."l ³¹So, my brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman. We are children of the free woman.

^a4:3 rules Or “powers.” Also in verse 9.
^bSpirit See “Holy Spirit.”
^c4:6 Abba An Aramaic word that was used by Jewish children as a name for their fathers.
^dGood News In the Gospels this is usually the news about the coming of God’s kingdom (see above) or its representative Jesus the Messiah. In other places it is, more specifically, the news or message of God’s grace - that he has made a way through Jesus Christ for people to be made right with him and enjoy his blessings now and forever.
^e4:17 Those people The false teachers who were bothering the believers in Galatia. See Gal. 1:7.
^flaw This usually refers to God’s law as it is represented in the Mosaic Law, the rules he gave to the Israelites through Moses (See Ex. 34:29-32). Sometimes it may mean the principle of law rather than a specific law or set of laws.
^gScripture Part of the Scriptures or “Holy Writings” - the Old Testament.
^hAbraham The most respected ancestor of the Jewish people. Through him God promised to make a great nation and bless all the people of the earth. Read Gen. 12:1-3.
ⁱMount Sinai The mountain located somewhere on the Sinai Peninsula (the eastern part of modern-day Egypt) where God gave his laws to Moses and the Israelites. Also called Mount Horeb. See Ex. 19 and 20.
^j4:27 woman … alone This means her husband has left her.
^kIsaiah 54:1
^l4:30 Quote from Gen. 21:10.