Galates 4
1 Or, aussi longtemps que l’héritier est enfant, je dis qu’il ne diffère en rien d’un esclave, quoiqu’il soit le maître de tout;
Now, I [will further] discuss [children and heirs]: [An heir is a person who will later] control all that his father has. But as long as that heir is a child, others [control] him, with the result that he is just like a slave [MET].
2 mais il est sous des tuteurs et des administrateurs jusqu’au temps marqué par le père.
Until the [day that] his father [previously] determined, [other] persons supervise him and manage his father’s property.
3 Nous aussi, de la même manière, lorsque nous étions enfants, nous étions sous l’esclavage des rudiments du monde;
Likewise, when we [(inc)] (OR, we [(exc) Jews]) were [like] young children [MET], we were controlled by the spiritual powers of this world. They controlled us like [masters control their slaves] [MET].
4 mais, lorsque les temps ont été accomplis, Dieu a envoyé son Fils, né d’une femme, né sous la loi,
But exactly at the time [MTY] [that God had previously determined], he sent [Jesus], who is (his Son/the man who is also God), into the world. Jesus was born to a [human] mother. He had to obey the laws [that God gave to Moses].
5 afin qu’il rachetât ceux qui étaient sous la loi, afin que nous reçussions l’adoption.
God sent Jesus in order that he might redeem us who had to obey [God’s] laws. God wanted us all to receive from [God] the status of being his children [MET].
6 Et parce que vous êtes fils, Dieu a envoyé dans nos cœurs l’Esprit de son Fils, lequel crie: Abba! Père!
Furthermore, we know that we are God’s children because God sent the Spirit, who is intimately related to Jesus, to live in our (inner beings/hearts). [The Spirit enables us to] pray fervently, “Daddy, Father!” [This shows that we are God’s children].
7 Ainsi tu n’es plus esclave, mais fils; et si tu es fils, tu es aussi héritier par la grâce de Dieu.
So, [because of what God has done], no longer is [each of] you [like] a slave. Instead, [each of you is] a child [of God]. Furthermore, since [each of you is God’s] child, God has also made you his heir, [one who will receive all that he has promised].
8 Autrefois, ne connaissant pas Dieu, vous serviez des dieux qui ne le sont pas de leur nature;
When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves.
9 mais à présent que vous avez connu Dieu, ou plutôt que vous avez été connus de Dieu, comment retournez-vous à ces faibles et pauvres rudiments, auxquels de nouveau vous voulez vous asservir encore?
But now you have come to know God. Perhaps [it would be better to say that] now God knows you. [So now you are acting foolishly]! (You are again believing [that by obeying] rules and rites [you will benefit spiritually]! [RHQ] [Those rules are] ineffective and inadequate! You are wanting to [obey them] again [MET] like slaves obey their masters. [RHQ]
10 Vous observez les jours, les mois, les temps et les années!
You [non-Jews] are carefully practicing [Jewish rules and rituals about what you should do] (on [Sabbaths/on Jewish days of rest]) and [on the first day of each] month and on [special] seasons and years.
11 Je crains d’avoir inutilement travaillé pour vous.
I (worry/am concerned) about your [mistaken ideas. I do not want] to have [so] strenuously served you in vain.
12 Soyez comme moi, car moi aussi je suis comme vous. Frères, je vous en supplie.
My fellow believers, I strongly urge you that you do as I do. [Stop thinking that you have to obey (Jewish rules and rituals/ceremonial laws]). [When I was with you], I [did not obey all the Jewish rules and rituals], just like you [did not obey them]. [At that time] you treated me entirely as you should have [LIT].
13 Vous ne m’avez fait aucun tort. Vous savez que ce fut à cause d’une infirmité de la chair que je vous ai pour la première fois annoncé l’Évangile.
You know that the first time I preached to you, [I went to your area to regain my health, because I was physically weak].
14 Et mis à l’épreuve par ma chair, vous n’avez témoigné ni mépris ni dégoût; vous m’avez, au contraire, reçu comme un ange de Dieu, comme Jésus-Christ.
[Although] you might have [despised me because] I was physically weak, you did not despise me or act contemptuously/disrespectfully toward me. Instead, you welcomed me like [you would welcome] an angel from God. [You welcomed me] like [you would welcome] Christ Jesus!
15 Où donc est l’expression de votre bonheur? Car je vous atteste que, si cela eût été possible, vous vous seriez arraché les yeux pour me les donner.
(I am disappointed that you have forgotten [that then] you [declared that you were] pleased with [me]./Have you forgotten [that then] you [declared that you were] pleased with [me]?) [RHQ] I can testify that you [would have done anything to help me]. You would have gouged out your eyes [and] given them to me, [if that would have helped me]!
16 Suis-je devenu votre ennemi en vous disant la vérité?
So I am very disappointed that you [now] act as though [RHQ] I have become hostile to you [because I have kept] speaking the true [message about Christ] to you.
17 Le zèle qu’ils ont pour vous n’est pas pur, mais ils veulent vous détacher de nous, afin que vous soyez zélés pour eux.
Those [who are insisting on obeying Jewish rules] are eagerly [showing interest in] you, but [what they are doing is] not good. They even want you not to associate with [me and other true] believers, because they want you to eagerly show [interest in] them, [not in us].
18 Il est beau d’avoir du zèle pour ce qui est bien et en tout temps, et non pas seulement quand je suis présent parmi vous.
But [just like] it always feels good to have others show that they appreciate you, [I would like you] always [to appreciate me], and not only when I am with you.
19 Mes enfants, pour qui j’éprouve de nouveau les douleurs de l’enfantement, jusqu’à ce que Christ soit formé en vous,
You [who are like] my children, [once] again I am very worried/concerned about you [MET], [and I will continue to] be worried/concerned until Christ’s [nature becomes developed] in you [completely and wholeheartedly] [MET] [as a child] becomes developed [in his mother’s womb].
20 je voudrais être maintenant auprès de vous, et changer de langage, car je suis dans l’inquiétude à votre sujet.
But I do wish that I could be with you now and that I might talk [more gently with you], because I do not know [what to do about] you [while we are apart].
21 Dites-moi, vous qui voulez être sous la loi, n’entendez-vous point la loi?
Some of you desire [to obey all the laws] that God gave Moses. [I say that] you [should] consider [RHQ] [the implications of what Moses wrote in] the Scriptures.
22 Car il est écrit qu’Abraham eut deux fils, un de la femme esclave, et un de la femme libre.
[He] wrote that Abraham became the father of two sons. His female slave, [Hagar], bore one son, and his [wife Sarah], who was not a slave, bore the other.
23 Mais celui de l’esclave naquit selon la chair, et celui de la femme libre naquit en vertu de la promesse.
Also, [the sons differed. Ishmael], the [son born by] the female slave, was conceived naturally. But [Isaac], the [son born by] his wife who was not a slave, was conceived [miraculously] as a result of what [God] had promised [Abraham].
24 Ces choses sont allégoriques; car ces femmes sont deux alliances. L’une du mont Sinaï, enfantant pour la servitude, c’est Agar,
[I am telling you this] as an illustration. These [two women] symbolize two agreements. [God made] the first [agreement, which involved obeying the laws that God gave to Moses] at Sinai Mountain. [Because that agreement forces those who accept it to keep obeying all its rules] [MET], [it is like a slave mother who] gives birth to slaves. [So] Hagar, [the female slave, symbolizes] that [agreement].
25 car Agar, c’est le mont Sinaï en Arabie, et elle correspond à la Jérusalem actuelle, qui est dans la servitude avec ses enfants.
Also, the [word] ‘Hagar’ is [associated with] Sinai Mountain, [which is] in Arabia [land. Hagar, the female slave, also] represents Jerusalem as it is today. Jerusalem is [like] [MET] a slave [mother, and those who live there] [PRS] [are like] her slave children [MET] [because they all must obey the laws that God gave to Moses].
26 Mais la Jérusalem d’en haut est libre, c’est notre mère;
But there will be a [new] Jerusalem in heaven [MTY], and we [who will go there] are free [from having to obey Jewish laws]. We [who belong to that city consider it to be] our mother [MET] [city because we are God’s true children].
27 car il est écrit: Réjouis-toi, stérile, toi qui n’enfantes point! Éclate et pousse des cris, toi qui n’as pas éprouvé les douleurs de l’enfantement! Car les enfants de la délaissée seront plus nombreux Que les enfants de celle qui était mariée.
[Our new city will have more people than those who live in Jerusalem now. It will be just like] Isaiah foretold about [the people whom he expected would come back to Jerusalem from exile. He expected that they would be more numerous than those who] were taken into exile. He wrote: [You who live in Jerusalem, you will] rejoice! Now you have no children, like a barren [woman] who does not give birth to [children! But some day you will] shout [joyfully], (without restraint/as loudly as you can), [even though now you are few in number, like a woman who] cannot give birth [to children, and you] feel deserted. [You will be very happy] because [you will have many children who will come to you. Those children will be] more than [the children] any woman with a husband [could have borne].
28 Pour vous, frères, comme Isaac, vous êtes enfants de la promesse;
Now, [my] fellow believers, you have become children [of God as a result of believing God’s] promise to us, as Isaac [was born as a result of Abraham believing what God promised to him] [MET].
29 et de même qu’alors celui qui était né selon la chair persécutait celui qui était né selon l’Esprit, ainsi en est-il encore maintenant.
[Also, long ago Abraham’s son] Ishmael, the one who was conceived naturally, caused trouble for [Abraham’s son] Isaac, who [was conceived] supernaturally [MET]. Similarly, now [those who think that we must obey the laws that God gave Moses in order that God will save us are causing trouble for those who are trusting Abraham’s descendant, Christ].
30 Mais que dit l’Écriture? Chasse l’esclave et son fils, car le fils de l’esclave n’héritera pas avec le fils de la femme libre.
But these are [RHQ] the words in the Scriptures [PRS]: “The son of the [woman] who was not a slave will inherit [what his father has]. The female slave’s son will certainly not inherit those things. So send away from [this place] the female slave and her son [MET]!” [That means that you should certainly expel from your groups those who insist that we obey all the laws God gave Moses] [MET].
31 C’est pourquoi, frères, nous ne sommes pas enfants de l’esclave, mais de la femme libre.
[My] fellow believers, [Hagar symbolizes the laws that God gave to Moses. But we are not those who must obey all the laws that God gave to Moses] [MET]. [So] we are not [the] female slave [Hagar’s spiritual] descendants [MET]. But [Sarah’s descendants are those who were born as a result of believing what God promised to Abraham. So we are] the [spiritual] descendants of [Sarah, the woman] who was not a slave [MET].
