Sons and Heirs

4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,^[a] though he is the owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³ In the same way we also, when we were children, ^(A)were enslaved to the elementary principles^[b] of the world. ⁴ But ^(B)when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, ^(C)born ^(D)of woman, born ^(E)under the law, ^5 (F)to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive ^(G)adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent ^(H)the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then ^(I)an heir through God.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, ^(A)one by a slave woman and ^(B)one by a free woman. ²³ But ^(C)the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while ^(D)the son of the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴ Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two ^(E)covenants. ^(F)One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;^[a] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But ^(G)the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written,

²⁸ Now you,^[b] brothers, ^(I)like Isaac, ^(J)are children of promise. ²⁹ But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh ^(K)persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, ^(L)so also it is now. ³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? ^(M)“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but ^(N)of the free woman.