Abhagalatia 4
1 Mbe enaika ati omuli wo mwandu akabha achali mutoto, bhutalio bhutashanya no mugaya, nolwo kutyo niwe omukuru wa bhyone.
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 Nawe katungwa abhasigilwa abhabhiki okukinga mu mwanya gunu esemwene alagile.
Until the [day that] his father [previously] determined, [other] persons supervise him and manage his father’s property.
3 Nyabhuliko neswe one, anu chaliga chichali bhana, chaliga chitungilwe jintungwa jo bhusimuka je chalo.
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 Nawe jinsiku jejile jakumila, Nyamuanga natuma Omwana wae, unu ebhuywe no mugasi, unu ebhuywe atungilwe ebhilagilo.
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 Akolele kutyo koleleki achungule bhanu bhatungilwe ebhilagilo, eswe chikolwe abhana.
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 Okubha muli bhana, Nyamuanga atumile Omwoyo gwo Mwana wae mu mitima jeswe, nalila ati, “Lata, Lata.”
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 Ku lwejo awe utachali mugaya nawe uli mwana. Mbe ukabha uli mwana, uli muli wo mwandu ku Nyamuanga.
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 Nawe kala, mwaliga mutakumenya Nyamuanga, nimukolela bhanu bhatali bhanyamuanga mu bhusimukwa.
When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves.
9 Nawe olyanu, okubha mwamumenyele Nyamuanga, au ati Nyamuanga abhamenyele emwe, ni kulwaki omuinduka inyuma mu bhyo bhusimukwa bhinu bhitana managa ne bhyo bhutaka? Nimwenda okusubha okutungwa nabhyo lindi?
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 Omwikomelesha muno jinsiku, amesi, na magolo ne myaka. Enibhawela omwoyo.
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 Enibhawela omwoyo nisige kubha amwi nanyakiye emwe kutyo ela.
I (worry/am concerned) about your [mistaken ideas. I do not want] to have [so] strenuously served you in vain.
12 Enibhalembelesha, bhaili, mubhe lwanye, okubha nili lwemwe. Mutankaiye anye omusango.
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 Nawe mumenyere ati mu bhulenga bhwo mubhili gwani nabhasimuliye ebhigambo bhyo bhwana.
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 Mutagaile okusakwa kunu mwabhwene kulwo mubhili gwani amwi mutalemele. Nawe mwandamiye lwa malaika wa Nyamuanga, lwa Yesu Kristo.
[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 Mbe, okukondelelwa kwemwe okwo woli kuli aki? Okubha enitula okwaika chimali ati, ichitulikana, mwakasosishemo ameso gemwe munana anye.
(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 Mbe oli, nibhee muremo wemwe okubha enibhabhwila ebhye chimali?
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 Abho bhali no bhukalae kwimwe, nawe tali mu bhwekisi. Nawe bhendele okubhegalila mutanyibhwe nanye koleleki mubhajile abhene.
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 Nawe ni kwa bhwana okubhaga no bhukalae ku misango je kisi, tali mu mwanya ogwo ela gunu enibha amwi nemwe.
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 Abhana bhani, bhanu enilumwa obhusungu lindi kukinga Kristo lunu alimogelwa mwimwe.
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 Nali nendele okubha amwi nemwe wolyanu no kuindula obhulaka bhwani, okubha enitimata kubhwemwe.
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 Mumbwile, emwe bhanu omwenda okutungwa ebhilagilo, mutakungwa ebhilagilo kutyo ebhyaika?
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 Okubha yandikilwe ati Ibrahimu aliga ali na bhana bhe chilume bhabhili, oumwi wo mugayagasi oundi wo mwibhule.
[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 Nawe, owo mugayagasi ebhuywe kulwo mubhili, nawe owo mwibhule ebhuywe kulwo mulago.
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 Ebhyo bhyabhee chijejekanyo, okubha abhagasi abho bhasusana na jindago jibhili. Eimwi eisoka ku chima cha Sinai. Niyo eibhula mu bhagaya, eyo niwe Hajiri.
[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 Okubha Hajiri oyo niwe echima cha Sinai chinu chili mu Bhuarabu. Echisusanibhwa na Yerusalemu ya woli, kwo kubha ili mu bhugaya amwi na bhana bhayo.
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 Nawe Yerusalemu ya ingulu niyo eye chibhule, niwe mai unu achibhuye.
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 Okubha jandikilwe ati, “Kondelelwa, awe omugumba, nyatebhula. Lagilisha waikile ingulu, awe unu utalumilwe bhusungu. Okubha abhana bha unu asigilwe ni bhanfu, kukila abha unu ali no mulume.”
[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 Nawe eswe bhaili, chili bhana bho mulago lwa Isaka.
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 Mbe nawe lwa unu ebhuywe kulwo mubhili kutyo anyasishe unu ebhuywe kulwo Mwoyo mu nsiku jilya, nikwo kutyo na oli.
[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 Nawe bhinu bhyandikilwe ebhyaika atiki? Ebhyaika ati, “Musosheo omugayagasi no mwana wae we chilume. Okubha omwana wo mugayagasi atalilya omwandu amwi no mwana owo mwibhule.”
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 Mbe, bhaili, eswe chitali bhana bho mugayagasi, nawe chili bho mwibhule.
[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].
