Micah 6:3

6:3 “My people, how have I wronged you? ¹ 

How have I wearied you? Answer me!

Micah 6:6

6:6 With what should I ²  enter the Lord’s presence?

With what ³  should I bow before the sovereign God? ⁴ 

Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ⁵ 

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.” ⁶ 

Micah 6:8

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.

Micah 4:9

4:9 Jerusalem, why are you ¹²  now shouting so loudly? ¹³ 

Has your king disappeared? ¹⁴ 

Has your wise leader ¹⁵  been destroyed?

Is this why ¹⁶  pain grips ¹⁷  you as if you were a woman in labor?

[6:3]  ¹ tn Heb “My people, what have I done to you?”

[6:6]  ² 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.

[6:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “the exalted God.”

[6:5]  ³ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.” Something appears to be missing at the beginning of the line. The present translation supplies the words, “Recall how you went.” This apparently refers to how Israel crossed the Jordan River (see Josh 3:1; 4:19-24).

[6:8]  ⁴ 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.

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[4:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew form is feminine singular, indicating that Jerusalem, personified as a young woman, is now addressed (see v. 10). In v. 8 the tower/fortress was addressed with masculine forms, so there is clearly a shift in addressee here. “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation at the beginning of v. 9 to make this shift apparent.

[4:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “Now why are you shouting [with] a shout.”

[4:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Is there no king over you?”

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “counselor” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the king mentioned in the previous line; the title points to the king’s roles as chief strategist and policy maker, both of which required extraordinary wisdom.

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “that.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is used here in a resultative sense; for this use see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.

[4:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “grabs hold of, seizes.”