Mikha 6:5-8
Konteks6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, 1
how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.
Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,
so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” 2
6:6 With what should I 3 enter the Lord’s presence?
With what 4 should I bow before the sovereign God? 5
Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,
or ten thousand streams of olive oil?
Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,
my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? 6
6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you: 7
He wants you to 8 promote 9 justice, to be faithful, 10
and to live obediently before 11 your God.
[6:5] 1 tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”
[6:5] 2 tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the
[6:6] 3 sn With what should I enter the
[6:6] 4 tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.
[6:6] 5 tn Or “the exalted God.”
[6:7] 6 tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”
[6:8] 7 sn What the
[6:8] 8 tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”
[6:8] 9 tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”
[6:8] 10 tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”
[6:8] 11 tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”