Galatians 4:22-30

22The Bible says that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one of them was a slave. The mother of the other son was a free woman.

23Hagar was a slave. Her son was born as a result of what Abraham himself decided. But Abraham's wife, Sarah, gave birth to the other son. That son was born as a result of what God had promised to Abraham.

24These two women are like pictures of two agreements that God made with his people. Hagar is like the agreement that God made on Sinai mountain. That agreement causes people to become slaves.

25Hagar is like a picture of Sinai mountain in Arabia. Also, she is like the city of Jerusalem here on earth now, because that city and its people are slaves under the authority of God's Law.

26But Abraham's wife, Sarah, is a picture of the new Jerusalem that is above. Sarah was a free person, not a slave, and she is like our mother.

27It says in the Bible: ‘Be happy, you woman who could not have any children! You have never known the pain of a child's birth. But now shout loudly because you are so happy! Yes, be happy, because the lonely woman now has more children than the woman who has a husband.’

28You, my Christian friends, are like Sarah's son, Isaac. Like him, you became God's children as a result of God's promise.

29Isaac was born because of God's Spirit. The son who was born in the human way gave much trouble to Isaac at that time. You who are believers receive the same kind of trouble now.

30But this is what it says in the Bible: ‘Send away the woman who is a slave and her son. That woman's son will never receive anything from his father. The son of the free woman will receive all those good things.’