Galatians 4
4
Sons and Heirs
1 I say this: As long as the heir is a child, he is in no way different from a slave, even though he owns everything.
2 He is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father.
3 In the same way, we were children, enslaved under the basic principles of the world.
4 But when the full time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman and born under the Law,
5 in order to redeem those under the Law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!”
7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then also an heir through God.
Paul’s Concern for the Galatians
8 At that time, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to things that are not gods by nature.
9 But now, having come to know God—or rather, having been known by God—how can you turn back to the weak and worthless basic principles, to which you want to submit yourselves again?
10 You observe days, months, seasons, and years.
11 I am afraid for you, brothers and sisters, that my labor on your behalf has been in vain.
12 I urge you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I have become like you. You have done me no wrong.
13 You know that it was because of a bodily weakness that I first preached the gospel to you.
14 You did not despise or reject the trial of my physical condition, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus Himself.
15 Where then is your blessing? I testify to you that if it were possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me!
16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
17 They are eager for you, but not for good; they want to exclude you so that you may be eager for them.
18 It is good to be zealous in a noble cause, and not only when I am present with you.
19 My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is fully formed in you!
20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, because I am deeply perplexed about you.
Hagar and Sarah
21 Tell me, those of you who desire to live under the Law, do you not listen to what the Law says?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman.
23 The son of the slave woman was born according to human descent, but the son of the free woman was born through the promise.
24 These things are allegorical: The two women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery, which is Hagar.
25 Hagar corresponds to Mount Sinai in Arabia and represents the present Jerusalem, because she and her children are in slavery.
26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.
27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
burst out and shout,
you who do not experience the pains of childbirth,
because many are the children of the desolate one,
more than those of the one who has a husband.”*
28 Now you, brothers and sisters, are children of promise, like Isaac.
29 But just as the one born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit at that time, so it is now.
30 However, what does the Scripture say? “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.”*
31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Notes
27 Quoted from Is. 54:1
30 Quoted from Gen. 21:10
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
