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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Galatians 4 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/galatians/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/galatians/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Galatians 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../galatians/3.htm" title="Galatians 3">◄</a> Galatians 4 <a href="../galatians/5.htm" title="Galatians 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><p class="nb"><span class="v48_4_1"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.1" class="v48_4_1">1</span>Children who are under age are no better off than slaves, even though everything their parents own will someday be theirs. </span><span class="v48_4_2"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.2" class="v48_4_2">2</span>This is because children are placed in the care of guardians and teachers until the time their parents have set. </span><span class="v48_4_3"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.3" class="v48_4_3">3</span>This is how it was with us. We were like children ruled by the powers of this world.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_4"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.4" class="v48_4_4">4</span>But when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him. His Son obeyed the Law, </span><span class="v48_4_5"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.5" class="v48_4_5">5</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.5!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> so he could set us free from the Law, and we could become God's children. </span><span class="v48_4_6"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.6" class="v48_4_6">6</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.6!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Now that we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. And his Spirit tells us that God is our Father. </span><span class="v48_4_7"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.7" class="v48_4_7">7</span>You are no longer slaves. You are God's children, and you will be given what he has promised.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Paul's Concern for the Galatians</h3><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_8"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.8" class="v48_4_8">8</span>Before you knew God, you were slaves of gods that are not real. </span><span class="v48_4_9"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.9" class="v48_4_9">9</span>But now you know God, or better still, God knows you. How can you turn back and become the slaves of those weak and pitiful powers?<a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.9!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v48_4_10"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.10" class="v48_4_10">10</span>You even celebrate certain days, months, seasons, and years. </span><span class="v48_4_11"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.11" class="v48_4_11">11</span>I am afraid I have wasted my time working with you.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_12"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.12" class="v48_4_12">12</span>My friends, I beg you to be like me, just as I once tried to be like you. Did you mistreat me </span><span class="v48_4_13"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.13" class="v48_4_13">13</span>when I first preached to you? No you didn't, even though you knew I had come there because I was sick. </span><span class="v48_4_14"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.14" class="v48_4_14">14</span>My illness must have caused you some trouble, but you didn't hate me or turn me away because of it. You welcomed me as though I were one of God's angels or even Christ Jesus himself. </span><span class="v48_4_15"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.15" class="v48_4_15">15</span>Where is that good feeling now? I am sure if it had been possible, you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me. </span><span class="v48_4_16"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.16" class="v48_4_16">16</span>Am I now your enemy, just because I told you the truth?</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_17"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.17" class="v48_4_17">17</span>Those people may be paying you a lot of attention, but it isn't for your good. They only want to keep you away from me, so you will pay them a lot of attention. </span><span class="v48_4_18"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.18" class="v48_4_18">18</span>It is always good to give your attention to something worthwhile, even when I am not with you. </span><span class="v48_4_19"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.19" class="v48_4_19">19</span>My children, I am in terrible pain until Christ may be seen living in you. </span><span class="v48_4_20"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.20" class="v48_4_20">20</span>I wish I were with you now. Then I would not have to talk this way. You really have me puzzled.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Hagar and Sarah</h3><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_21"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.21" class="v48_4_21">21</span>Some of you would like to be under the rule of the Law of Moses. But do you know what the Law says? </span><span class="v48_4_22"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.22" class="v48_4_22">22</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.22!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> In the Scriptures we learn that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one of them was a slave, while the mother of the other one had always been free. </span><span class="v48_4_23"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.23" class="v48_4_23">23</span>The son of the slave woman was born in the usual way. But the son of the free woman was born because of God's promise.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_24"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.24" class="v48_4_24">24</span>All of this has another meaning as well. Each of the two women stands for one of the agreements God made with his people. Hagar, the slave woman, stands for the agreement that was made at Mount Sinai. Everyone born into her family is a slave. </span><span class="v48_4_25"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.25" class="v48_4_25">25</span>Hagar also stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia<a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.25!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and for the present city of Jerusalem. She<a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.25!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and her children are slaves.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_26"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.26" class="v48_4_26">26</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.26!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> But our mother is the city of Jerusalem in heaven above, and she isn't a slave. </span><span class="v48_4_27"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.27" class="v48_4_27">27</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.27!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The Scriptures say about her,</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="q1"><span class="v48_4_27">“You have never had children,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v48_4_27">but now you can be glad.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v48_4_27">You have never given birth,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v48_4_27">but now you can shout.</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v48_4_27">Once you had no children,</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v48_4_27">but now you will have</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v48_4_27">more children than a woman</span></p><p class="q1"><span class="v48_4_27">who has been married</span></p><p class="q2"><span class="v48_4_27">for a long time.”</span></p><p class="b"></p><p class="par"><span class="v48_4_28"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.28" class="v48_4_28">28</span>My friends, you were born because of this promise, just as Isaac was. </span><span class="v48_4_29"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.29" class="v48_4_29">29</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.29!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> But the child who was born in the natural way made trouble for the child who was born because of the Spirit. The same thing is happening today. </span><span class="v48_4_30"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.30" class="v48_4_30">30</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Gal.4.30!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The Scriptures say, “Get rid of the slave woman and her son! He won't be given anything. The son of the free woman will receive everything.” </span><span class="v48_4_31"><span class="reftext" id="Gal.4.31" class="v48_4_31">31</span>My friends, we are children of the free woman and not of the slave.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.9 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">powers: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Spirits were thought to control human lives and were believed to be connected with the movements of the stars.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.25 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Hagar also stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some manuscripts have “Sinai is a mountain in Arabia.” This sentence would then be translated: “Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, and Hagar stands for the present city of Jerusalem.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">4.25 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">She: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">“Hagar” or “Jerusalem.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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