CSB

CSB

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
The Blue Letter Bible

Galatians 4 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:1 -

Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:2 -

Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:3 -

In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements[fn] of the world.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:4 -

When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:5 -

to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:6 -

And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our[fn] hearts, crying, “Abba,[fn] Father! ”

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:7 -

So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians
Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:8 -

But in the past, since you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things[fn] that by nature are not gods.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:9 -

But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:10 -

You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:11 -

I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:12 -

I beg you, brothers and sisters: Become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have not wronged me;

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:13 -

you know[fn] that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:14 -

You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you.[fn] On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:15 -

Where, then, is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:16 -

So then, have I become your enemy because I told you the truth?

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:17 -

They court you eagerly, but not for good. They want to exclude you from me, so that you would pursue them.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:18 -

But it is always good to be pursued[fn] in a good manner ​— ​and not just when I am with you.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:19 -

My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:20 -

I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.

Sarah and Hagar: Two Covenants
(Gen 21:8–21; Isa 54:1 )
Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:21 -

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law?

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:22 -

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:23 -

But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:24 -

These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery ​— ​this is Hagar.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:25 -

Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:26 -

But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:27 -

For it is written,

Rejoice, childless woman,

unable to give birth.

Burst into song and shout,

you who are not in labor,

for the children of the desolate woman will be many,

more numerous than those

of the woman who has a husband.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:28 -

Now you too, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:29 -

But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, so also now.

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:30 -

But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.”

Unchecked Copy BoxGal 4:31 -

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman.

CSB Footnotes
Or spirits, or principles
Other mss read your
Aramaic for father
Or beings
Or [12] Become like I am, because I ​— ​inasmuch as you are brothers and sisters ​— ​am not requesting anything of you. You wronged me. [13] You know
Other mss read me
Lit zealously courted
CSB

Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
CSB
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
CSB

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan