²⁴ “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master;^{(A) 25} it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!^(B)

Whom to Fear

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known.^{(C) 27} What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^{[a] 29} Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ And even the hairs of your head are all counted.^{(D) 31} So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

³² “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,^{(E) 33} but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.^(F)

³⁷ “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me,^{(I) 38} and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^{(J) 39} Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.^(K)

Rewards

⁴⁰ “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.^{(L) 41} Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, ⁴² and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”^(M)

God Accuses Israel

The Idolatry of Israel

4 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than those who are enslaved, though they are the owners of all the property, ² but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. ³ So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental principles^[a] of the world.^{(A) 4} But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,^{(B) 5} in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.^{(C) 6} And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our^[b] hearts, crying, “Abba!^[c] Father!”^{(D) 7} So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.^[d]

Paul Reproves the Galatians

⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods.^{(E) 9} Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental principles?^[e] How can you want to be enslaved to them again?^{(F) 10} You are observing special days and months and seasons and years. ¹¹ I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.

¹² Brothers and sisters, I beg you: become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong. ¹³ You know that it was because of a physical infirmity that I first announced the gospel to you; ¹⁴ though my condition put you to the test, you did not scorn or despise me but welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What has become of the goodwill you felt? For I testify that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? ¹⁷ They make much of you but for no good purpose; they want to exclude you, so that you may make much of them. ¹⁸ It is good to be made much of for a good purpose at all times and not only when I am present with you. ¹⁹ My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,^{(G) 20} I wish I were present with you now and could change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

The Allegory of Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by an enslaved woman and the other by a free woman.^{(H) 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.^{(I) 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^[f] 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.^{(J) 27} For it is written,

²⁸ Now you,^[g] 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.^{(L) 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.”^{(M) 31} So then, brothers and sisters, we are children, not of an enslaved woman but of the free woman. 5 ¹ For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.^(N)