Proverbs 21:3

21:3 To do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable ¹  to the Lord than sacrifice. ² 

Hosea 6:6

6:6 For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;

I delight ³  in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings. ⁴ 

Micah 6:6-8

6:6 With what should I ⁵  enter the Lord’s presence?

With what ⁶  should I bow before the sovereign God? ⁷ 

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? ⁸ 

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ⁹ 

He wants you to ¹⁰  promote ¹¹  justice, to be faithful, ¹² 

and to live obediently before ¹³  your God.

¹ tn The Niphal participle בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”) means “choice to the Lord” or “chosen of the Lord,” meaning “acceptable to the Lord”; cf. TEV “pleases the Lord more.”

² sn The Lord prefers righteousness above religious service (e.g., Prov 15:8; 21:29; 1 Sam 15:22; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:11-17). This is not a rejection of ritual worship; rather, religious acts are without value apart from righteous living.

³ tn The phrase “I delight” does not appear in the Hebrew text a second time in this verse, but is implied from the parallelism in the preceding line.

⁴ sn Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Hosea does not reject animal sacrifice nor cultic ritual, and advocate instead obedience only. Rather, God does not delight in ritual sacrifice without the accompanying prerequisite moral obedience (1 Sam 15:22; Pss 40:6-8; 51:16-17; Prov 21:3; Isa 1:11-17; Jer 7:21-23; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8). However, if prerequisite moral obedience is present, he delights in sacrificial worship as an outward expression (Ps 51:19). Presented by a repentant obedient worshiper, whole burnt offerings were “an aroma pleasing” to the Lord (Lev 1:9, 13).

⁵ sn With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? The prophet speaks again, playing the role of an inquisitive worshiper who wants to know what God really desires from his followers.

⁶ tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.

⁷ tn Or “the exalted God.”

⁸ 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.”

⁹ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

¹⁰ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

¹¹ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

¹² tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

¹³ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”