Mikha 6:1-8
Konteks6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Get up! Defend yourself 1 before the mountains! 2
Present your case before the hills!” 3
6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,
you enduring foundations of the earth!
For the Lord has a case against his people;
he has a dispute with Israel! 4
6:3 “My people, how have I wronged you? 5
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
6:4 In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I delivered you from that place of slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 6
6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, 7
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.” 8
6:6 With what should I 9 enter the Lord’s presence?
With what 10 should I bow before the sovereign God? 11
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? 12
6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you: 13
He wants you to 14 promote 15 justice, to be faithful, 16
and to live obediently before 17 your God.
[6:1] 1 tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”
[6:1] sn Defend yourself. The
[6:1] 2 sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.
[6:1] 3 tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”
[6:2] 4 tn This verse briefly interrupts the
[6:3] 5 tn Heb “My people, what have I done to you?”
[6:5] 7 tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”
[6:5] 8 tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the
[6:6] 9 sn With what should I enter the
[6:6] 10 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] 11 tn Or “the exalted God.”
[6:7] 12 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] 13 sn What the
[6:8] 14 tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”
[6:8] 15 tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”
[6:8] 16 tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”
[6:8] 17 tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”