¹Basi, nasema hivi: mrithi, akiwa bado mtoto, hawi tofauti na mtumwa ingawaje mali yote ni yake.

¹Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

²Wakati huo wote yuko chini ya walezi na wadhamini mpaka wakati ule uliowekwa na baba yake.

²But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

³Hali kadhalika na sisi tulipokuwa bado watoto, tulikuwa watumwa wa pepo watawala wa ulimwengu.

³Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

⁴Lakini wakati ule maalumu ulipotimia, Mungu alimtuma Mwanawe aliyezaliwa na mwanamke, akaishi chini ya Sheria

⁴But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

⁵apate kuwakomboa wale waliokuwa chini ya Sheria ili sisi tufanywe wana wa Mungu.

⁵To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

⁶Kwa vile sasa ninyi ni wana, Mungu amemtuma Roho wa Mwanae mioyoni mwenu, Roho ambaye hulia "Aba," yaani "Baba."

⁶And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

⁷Basi, wewe si mtumwa tena, bali mwana. Na ikiwa ni mwana, basi, wewe utapokea yote Mungu aliyowawekea watoto wake.

⁷Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

⁸Zamani hamkumjua Mungu na hivyo mkatumikia miungu isiyo miungu kweli.

⁸Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

⁹Lakini sasa, kwa vile mnamjua Mungu, au tuseme mnajulikana na Mungu, mnawezaje tena kurudi kwa wale pepo maskini na dhaifu hata kutaka kuwatumikia tena?

⁹But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

¹⁰Bado mnaadhimisha siku, miezi na miaka!

¹⁰Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

¹¹Nahofu kwamba labda kazi niliyoifanya kwa ajili yenu imepotea bure!

¹¹I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

¹²Ndugu, nawasihi muwe kama mimi, kwa vile hata mimi nimekuwa kama ninyi. Hamkunitendea ubaya wowote.

¹²Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

¹³Mnajua kwamba ugonjwa wangu ndio ulionipatia fursa ya kuwahubirieni Habari Njema kwa mara ya kwanza.

¹³Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

¹⁴Hata hivyo, wakati ule hamkunidharau wala kunikataa kwa sababu ya udhaifu wangu ingawa mlishawishiwa kufanya hivyo; lakini mlinipokea kama malaika wa Mungu, kama vile ningekuwa Kristo Yesu mwenyewe.

¹⁴And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Mlikuwa wenye furaha; sasa kumetokea nini? Naapa kwamba wakati ule mngaliweza hata kuyang'oa macho yenu na kunipa mimi.

¹⁵Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

¹⁶Je, sasa nimekuwa adui yenu kwa sababu ya kuwaambieni ukweli?

¹⁶Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

¹⁷Hao watu wengine wanawahangaikia ninyi, lakini nia zao si njema. Wanataka kuwatenganisha nami ili ninyi muwahangaikie wao.

¹⁷They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

¹⁸Kwa kweli ni jambo jema daima kuwahangaikia wengine katika mambo mema, na si tu wakati mimi nipo pamoja nanyi.

¹⁸But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

¹⁹Watoto wangu, kama vile mama mja mzito anavyotaabika wakati wa kujifungua, mimi nataabika tena kwa ajili yenu mpaka hapo hali yake Kristo itakapoundwa ndani yenu.

¹⁹My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

²⁰Laiti ningekuwa pamoja nanyi sasa, maana ningalipata msimamo ufaao juu yenu! Nina wasiwasi sana nanyi!

²⁰I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

²¹Niambieni, enyi mnaopenda kutawaliwa na sheria: Je, mnasikia isemavyo Sheria?

²¹Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

²²Imeandikwa katika Maandiko Matakatifu kwamba Abrahamu alikuwa na watoto wawili: mmoja kwa mwanamke mtumwa, na wa pili kwa mwanamke huru.

²²For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

²³Yule wa mwanamke mtumwa alizaliwa kama kawaida, lakini yule wa mwanamke huru alizaliwa kutokana na ahadi ya Mungu.

²³But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

²⁴Mambo hayo yamekuwa mfano; mama hao wawili ni mfano wa maagano mawili; la kwanza ni lile lililofanyika mlimani Sinai, mwakilishi wake ni Hagari, na watoto wake wanazaliwa utumwani.

²⁴Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

²⁵Hagari anawakilisha mlima Sinai ulioko Arabia, na ni mfano wa Yerusalemu ya sasa, ulio mtumwa pamoja na watoto wake.

²⁵For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

²⁶Lakini Yerusalemu ya juu mbinguni ni mji ulio huru, nao ni mama yetu.

²⁶But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

²⁷Maana imeandikwa: "Furahi, ewe uliye tasa usiyezaa; paaza sauti wewe usiyepata kujifungua mtoto; maana watoto wa yule aliyeachwa ni wengi zaidi kuliko wa yule aliye na mume."

²⁷For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

²⁸Sasa, basi, ndugu zangu, ninyi ni watoto wa Mungu kutokana na ahadi yake kama alivyokuwa Isaka.

²⁸Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

²⁹Lakini kama vile siku zile yule mtoto aliyezaliwa kwa njia ya kawaida alimdhulumu yule aliyezaliwa kwa uwezo wa Roho wa Mungu, vivyo hivyo na siku hizi.

²⁹But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

³⁰Lakini Maandiko Matakatifu yasemaje? Yasema: "Mfukuze mama mtumwa pamoja na mwanawe; maana mtoto wa mtumwa hatarithi pamoja na mtoto wa mama huru."

³⁰Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

³¹Kwa hiyo, basi, ndugu, sisi si watoto wa mtumwa bali wa mama huru.

³¹So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.