Parallel Bible results for "galatians 4"

Galatians 4

Hebrew Names Version HNV

1 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all;

2 but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father.

3 So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elements of the world.

4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,

5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

6 And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"

7 So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Messiah.

8 However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are no gods.

9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elements, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?

10 You observe days, months, seasons, and years.

11 I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.

12 I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong,

13 but you know that because of weakness of the flesh I preached the Good News to you the first time.

14 That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn't despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Messiah Yeshua.

15 What was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.

16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

17 They zealously seek you in no good way. No, they desire to alienate you, that you may seek them.

18 But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you.

19 My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Messiah is formed in you--

20 but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

21 Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don't you listen to the law?

22 For it is written that Avraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman.

23 However, the son by the handmaid was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.

24 These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.

25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in `Arav, and answers to the Yerushalayim that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.

26 But the Yerushalayim that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

27 For it is written, "Rejoice, you barren who don't bear. Break forth and shout, you that don't travail. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband."

28 Now we, brothers, as Yitzchak was, are children of promise.

29 But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.

30 However what does the Scripture say? "Throw out the handmaid and her son, for the son of the handmaid will not inherit with the son of the free woman."

31 So then, brothers, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free woman.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Let me show you the implications of this. As long as the heir is a minor, he has no advantage over the slave. Though legally he owns the entire inheritance,

2 he is subject to tutors and administrators until whatever date the father has set for emancipation.

3 That is the way it is with us: When we were minors, we were just like slaves ordered around by simple instructions (the tutors and administrators of this world), with no say in the conduct of our own lives.

4 But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.

5 Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.

6 You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!"

7 Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

8 Earlier, before you knew God personally, you were enslaved to so-called gods that had nothing of the divine about them.

9 But now that you know the real God - or rather since God knows you - how can you possibly subject yourselves again to those paper tigers?

10 For that is exactly what you do when you are intimidated into scrupulously observing all the traditions, taboos, and superstitions associated with special days and seasons and years.

11 I am afraid that all my hard work among you has gone up in a puff of smoke!

12 My dear friends, what I would really like you to do is try to put yourselves in my shoes to the same extent that I, when I was with you, put myself in yours. You were very sensitive and kind then. You did not come down on me personally.

13 You were well aware that the reason I ended up preaching to you was that I was physically broken, and so, prevented from continuing my journey, I was forced to stop with you. That is how I came to preach to you.

14 And don't you remember that even though taking in a sick guest was most troublesome for you, you chose to treat me as well as you would have treated an angel of God - as well as you would have treated Jesus himself if he had visited you?

15 What has happened to the satisfaction you felt at that time? There were some of you then who, if possible, would have given your very eyes to me - that is how deeply you cared!

16 And now have I suddenly become your enemy simply by telling you the truth? I can't believe it.

17 Those heretical teachers go to great lengths to flatter you, but their motives are rotten. They want to shut you out of the free world of God's grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making them feel important.

18 It is a good thing to be ardent in doing good, but not just when I am in your presence. Can't you continue the same concern for both my person and my message when I am away from you that you had when I was with you?

19 Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ's life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth.

20 Oh, I keep wishing that I was with you. Then I wouldn't be reduced to this blunt, letter-writing language out of sheer frustration.

21 Tell me now, you who have become so enamored with the law: Have you paid close attention to that law?

22 Abraham, remember, had two sons: one by the slave woman and one by the free woman.

23 The son of the slave woman was born by human connivance; the son of the free woman was born by God's promise.

24 This illustrates the very thing we are dealing with now. The two births represent two ways of being in relationship with God. One is from Mount Sinai in Arabia.

25 It corresponds with what is now going on in Jerusalem - a slave life, producing slaves as offspring. This is the way of Hagar.

26 In contrast to that, there is an invisible Jerusalem, a free Jerusalem, and she is our mother - this is the way of Sarah.

27 Remember what Isaiah wrote: Rejoice, barren woman who bears no children, shout and cry out, woman who has no birth pangs, Because the children of the barren woman now surpass the children of the chosen woman.

28 Isn't it clear, friends, that you, like Isaac, are children of promise?

29 In the days of Hagar and Sarah, the child who came from faithless connivance (Ishmael) harassed the child who came - empowered by the Spirit - from the faithful promise (Isaac). Isn't it clear that the harassment you are now experiencing from the Jerusalem heretics follows that old pattern?

30 There is a Scripture that tells us what to do: "Expel the slave mother with her son, for the slave son will not inherit with the free son."

31 Isn't that conclusive? We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.