1 Aga ma ütlen: niikaua kui pärija on alaealine, ei ole mingit vahet orja ja tema vahel, ehk ta küll on kõige isand;
2 vaid ta on eestkostjate ja valitsejate all kuni isa poolt määratud ajani.
3 Nõnda ka meie: kui olime alaealised, siis olime orjastatud maailma algjõudude alla.
4 Aga kui aeg täis sai, läkitas Jumal Oma Poja, Kes sündis naisest ja sai käsu alla,
5 lahti ostma käsualuseid, et me saaksime lapse seisuse.
6 Aga et te nüüd olete lapsed, on Jumal läkitanud teie südamesse Oma Poja Vaimu, Kes hüüab: „Abba, Isa!"
7 Nõnda ei ole sa enam ori, vaid laps; aga kui sa oled laps, siis oled ka pärija Jumala kaudu.
8 Aga siis, kui te ei tundnud Jumalat, te orjasite neid, kes olemise poolest ei olegi jumalad.
9 Ent nüüd, kus te olete Jumala ära tundnud, või õigemini, Jumal on teid ära tundnud, kuidas te pöördute jälle nõrkade ja viletsate algjõudude poole, mida te jälle tahate uuesti orjata?
10 Te arvestate päevi ja kuid ja aegu ja aastaid.
11 Ma kardan teie pärast, et ma teie kallal ehk asjata olen vaeva näinud.
12 Saage minusuguseiks, sest minagi olen saanud teiesuguseks, vennad, ma palun teid! Te ei ole mind millegagi solvanud.
13 Te ju teate, et ma liha nõtruses teile kuulutasin Evangeeliumi esimesel korral,
14 ja te ei pannud kiusatust, mis teil oli minu kehalisest seisukorrast, mitte halvaks ega võõrastanud mind, vaid võtsite mind vastu kui Jumala Ingli, kui Kristuse Jeesuse.
15 Kus on nüüd teie õndsuse kiitlus? Sest ma tunnistan teile, et teie, kui see oleks olnud võimalik, oleksite oma silmad kiskunud välja ja andnud minule.
16 Kas ma nüüd olen saanud teie vaenlaseks, et ma olen teile tõtt öelnud?
17 Nad on õhinal teie ümber, kuid mitte kaunil viisil, vaid nad tahavad teid välja jätta, et te innukad oleksite nende kasuks.
18 Hea on olla innukas hea suhtes alatasa ja mitte ainult siis, kui mina teie juures olen.
19 Mu lapsukesed, kelle pärast ma nüüd jälle olen lapsevaevas, kuni Kristus teie sees saab kuju!
20 Küll ma tahaksin nüüd olla teie juures ja oma häältki muuta, sest ma olen päris nõutu teie pärast!
21 Öelge mulle, kes tahate olla käsu all, kas te ei kuule käsuõpetust?
22 Sest on kirjutatud, et Aabrahamil oli kaks poega, üks ümmardajast ja teine vabast naisest.
23 Aga ümmardaja poeg oli sündinud liha järgi, vaba naise poeg aga tõotuse kaudu.
24 Need on võrdluskujud. Sest need naised on kaks lepingut; üks Siinai mäelt, mis sünnitab orjapõlveks, see on Haagar.
25 Sest Haagar tähendab Siinai mäge Araabias ja vastab praegusele Jeruusalemmale, sest see orjab ühes oma lastega.
26 Aga see Jeruusalemm, mis on ülal, on vaba naine, ja see on meie kõikide ema.
27 Sest on kirjutatud: „Rõõmutse, sigimatu, kes pole sünnitanud; tõsta häält ja hüüa valjusti, kes pole olnud lapsevaevas, sest vallalisel saab olema rohkem lapsi kui sellel, kellel on mees!"
28 Ent teie, vennad, olete nõnda nagu Iisak, tõotuse lapsed!
29 Aga nõnda nagu tol ajal see, kes oli sünnitatud liha järgi, taga kiusas seda, kes oli sündinud Vaimu järgi, nõnda on ka nüüd.
30 Aga mida ütleb Kiri? „Kihuta minema ümmardaja ja tema poeg, sest ümmardaja poeg ei või pärida ühes vaba naise pojaga!"
31 Niisiis, vennad, ei ole me ümmardaja, vaid oleme vaba naise lapsed!
1 But I say that as long as the son is a child, he is in no way different from a servant, though he is lord of all;
2 But is under keepers and managers till the time fixed by the father.
3 So we, when we were young, were kept under the first rules of the world;
4 But when the time had come, God sent out his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 That he might make them free who were under the law, and that we might be given the place of sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, saying, Abba, Father.
7 So that you are no longer a servant, but a son; and if a son, then the heritage of God is yours.
8 But at that time, having no knowledge of God, you were servants to those who by right are no gods:
9 But now that you have come to have knowledge of God, or more truly, God has knowledge of you, how is it that you go back again to the poor and feeble first things, desiring to be servants to them again?
10 You keep days, and months, and fixed times, and years.
11 I am in fear of you, that I may have been working for you to no purpose.
12 My desire for you, brothers, is that you may be as I am, because I am as you are. You have done me no wrong;
13 But you have knowledge that with a feeble body I was preaching the good news to you the first time;
14 And you did not have a poor opinion of me because of the trouble in my flesh, or put shame on it; but you took me to your hearts as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
15 Where then is that happy condition of yours? because I give you witness, that, if possible, you would have taken out your eyes and given them to me.
16 So then am I no longer your friend, because I give you true words?
17 Their interest in you is not good; but their desire is that you may be shut out, so that you may go after them.
18 But it is good to have an interest in a good cause at all times, and not only when I am present with you.
19 My children, of whom I am again in birth-pains till Christ is formed in you,
20 Truly my desire is to be present with you now, using a changed voice; for I am troubled about you.
21 Say, you whose desire it is to be under the law, do you not give ear to the law?
22 Because it is in the Writings, that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant-woman, and one by the free woman.
23 Now the son by the servant-woman has his birth after the flesh; but the son by the free woman has his birth through the undertaking of God.
24 Which things have a secret sense; because these women are the two agreements; one from the mountain of Sinai, giving birth to servants, which is Hagar.
25 Now this Hagar is the mountain Sinai in Arabia, and is the image of the Jerusalem which now is: which is a servant with her children.
26 But the Jerusalem on high is free, which is our mother.
27 For it is in the Writings, You who have never given birth, be glad; give cries of joy, you who have had no birth-pains; for the children of her who has been given up by her husband are more than those of the woman who has a husband.
28 Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are the children of the undertaking of God.
29 But as in those days he who had birth after the flesh was cruel to him who had birth after the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 What then do the Writings say? Send away the servant-woman and her son; for the son of the servant-woman will not have a part in the heritage with the son of the free woman.
31 So, brothers, we are not children of the servant-woman, but of the free woman.