加拉太书4:19-31
19我小子啊，我为你们再受生产之苦，直等到基督成形在你们心里。20我巴不得现今在你们那里，改换口气，因我为你们，心里作难。21你们这愿意在律法以下的人，请告诉我，你们岂没有听见律法吗？22因为律法上记着，亚伯拉罕有两个儿子，一个是使女生的，一个是自主之妇人生的。23然而那使女所生的，是按着血气生的。那自主之妇人所生的，是凭着应许生的。24这都是比方。那两个妇人，就是两约。一约是出于西奈山，生子为奴，乃是夏甲。25这夏甲二字是指着阿拉伯的西奈山，与现在的耶路撒冷同类。因耶路撒冷和她的儿女都是为奴的。26但那在上的耶路撒冷是自主的，她是我们的母。27因为经上记着，不怀孕不生养的，你要欢乐。未曾经过产难的，你要高声欢呼，因为没有丈夫的，比有丈夫的儿女更多。28弟兄们，我们是凭着应许作儿女，如同以撒一样。29当时那按着血气生的，逼迫了那按着圣灵生的。现在也是这样。30然而经上是怎么说的呢？是说，把使女和她儿子赶出去，因为使女的儿子，不可与自主妇人的儿子一同承受产业。31弟兄们，这样看来，我们不是使女的儿女，乃是自主妇人的儿女了。
19Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. 20I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don’t know how else to help you. 21Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife.#4:22 See Gen 16:15; 21:2-3. 23The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise. 24These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia,#4:25 Greek And Hagar, which is Mount Sinai in Arabia, is now like Jerusalem; other manuscripts read And Mount Sinai in Arabia is now like Jerusalem. because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27As Isaiah said,“Rejoice, O childless woman,you who have never given birth!Break into a joyful shout,you who have never been in labor!For the desolate woman now has more childrenthan the woman who lives with her husband!”#4:27 Isa 54:1. 28And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit. 30But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”#4:30 Gen 21:10. 31So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.
