Mikha 6:7-8

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? ¹ 

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

and what the Lord really wants from you: ² 

He wants you to ³  promote ⁴  justice, to be faithful, ⁵ 

and to live obediently before ⁶  your God.

[6:7]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

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