²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,^[a] heirs according to the promise.^(A)

⁶ that is, the gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.^(A)

⁷ and not all of Abraham’s children are his descendants, but “it is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.”^{(A) 8} This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.

²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by an enslaved woman and the other by a free woman.^{(A) 23} One, the child of the enslaved woman, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise.^{(B) 24} Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia^[a] and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother.^{(C) 27} For it is written,

²⁸ Now you,^[b] my brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, like Isaac. ²⁹ But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.^{(E) 30} But what does the scripture say? “Drive out the enslaved woman and her child, for the child of the enslaved woman will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.”^{(F) 31} So then, brothers and sisters, we are children, not of an enslaved woman but of the free woman.

¹⁷ and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.^(A)

⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.^(A)

¹⁶ For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us,^{(A) 17} as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed,^[a] who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.^{(B) 18} Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already^[b] as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.^{(C) 20} No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.^(D)

⁷ Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?^(A)