Micah 6:3–8

3 “My people, what have I done to you?

How have I burdened you? Answer me.

4 I brought you up out of Egypt

and redeemed you from the land of slavery.

I sent Moses to lead you,

also Aaron and Miriam.

5 My people, remember

what Balak king of Moab plotted

and what Balaam son of Beor answered.

Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

6 With what shall I come before the Lord

and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

3 “O my people, what have I done to you?

How have I wearied you? Answer me!

4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from the house of slavery,

and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and Miriam.

5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

3 O my people, what have I done unto thee?

And wherein have I wearied thee?

Testify against me.

4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt,

And redeemed thee out of the house of servants;

And I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted,

And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him

From Shittim unto Gilgal;

That ye may know the righteousness of the Lord.

6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord,

And bow myself before the high God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

With calves of a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

Or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;

And what doth the Lord require of thee,

But to do justly, and to love mercy,

And to walk humbly with thy God?

3 “O my people, what have I done to you?

What have I done to make you tired of me?

Answer me!

4 For I brought you out of Egypt

and redeemed you from slavery.

I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.

5 Don’t you remember, my people,

how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed

and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead?

And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal,

when I, the Lord, did everything I could

to teach you about my faithfulness.”

6 What can we bring to the Lord?

Should we bring him burnt offerings?

Should we bow before God Most High

with offerings of yearling calves?

7 Should we offer him thousands of rams

and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?

Should we sacrifice our firstborn children

to pay for our sins?

8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,

and this is what he requires of you:

to do what is right, to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God.

3 “O My people, what have I done to you?

And how have I wearied you?

Testify against Me.

4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

I redeemed you from the house of bondage;

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 O My people, remember now

What Balak king of Moab counseled,

And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

From Acacia Grove to Gilgal,

That you may know the righteousness of the Lord.”

6 With what shall I come before the Lord,

And bow myself before the High God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

Ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

3 He says, “My people, what did I do to you?

How did I make you tired of me?

Tell me.

4 I brought you from the land of Egypt

and freed you from slavery;

I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to you.

5 My people, remember

the evil plans of Balak king of Moab

and what Balaam son of Beor told Balak.

Remember what happened from Acacia to Gilgal

so that you will know the Lord does what is right!”

6 You say, “What can I bring with me

when I come before the Lord,

when I bow before God on high?

Should I come before him with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand male sheep?

Will he be pleased with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Should I give my first child for the evil I have done?

Should I give my very own child for my sin?”

8 The Lord has told you, human, what is good;

he has told you what he wants from you:

to do what is right to other people,

love being kind to others,

and live humbly, obeying your God.

3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.

6 Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old? 7 will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?

3 “My people, what have I done to you? 

How have I tried your patience? Answer me! 

4 I brought you out of Egypt and freed you from slavery. 

I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you. 

5 My people, remember what King Balak of Moab planned ⸤to do to you⸥ 

and how Balaam, son of Beor, responded to him. 

Remember ⸤your journey⸥ from Shittim to Gilgal 

so that you may know the victories of the Lord.” 

6 What should I bring when I come into the Lord’s presence, 

when I bow in front of the God of heaven? 

Should I bring him year-old calves as burnt offerings? 

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams 

or with endless streams of olive oil? 

Should I give him my firstborn child because of my rebellious acts? 

Should I give him my young child for my sin? 

8 You mortals, the Lord has told you what is good. 

This is what the Lord requires from you: 

to do what is right, 

to love mercy, 

and to live humbly with your God. 

3 My people, what have I done to you,

or how have I wearied you?

Testify against Me!

4 Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from that place of slavery.

I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam ahead of you.

5 My people,

remember what Balak king of Moab proposed,

what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from the Acacia Grove to Gilgal

so that you may acknowledge

the Lord’s righteous acts.

6 What should I bring before the Lord

when I come to bow before God on high?

Should I come before Him with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

7 Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams

or with ten thousand streams of oil?

Should I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the child of my body for my own sin?

8 Mankind, He has told you what is good

and what it is the Lord requires of you:

to act justly,

to love faithfulness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

3 “O my people, what have I done to you?

In what have I wearied you? Answer me!

4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from the house of slavery,

and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and Miriam.

5 O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,

what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good,

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice and to love kindness

and to walk humbly with your God?

3 “O my people, what have I done to you,

and how have I wearied you? Answer me!

4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

and from the house of slavery I redeemed you.

And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.

5 O my people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

so that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh.”

6 With what shall I approach Yahweh,

and bow down to God on high?

Shall I approach him with burnt offerings,

with bull calves a year old?

7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams,

with myriads of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good,

and what does Yahweh ask from you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

3 The Lord says,

“My people, what have I done to you?

Have I made things too hard for you? Answer me.

4 I brought your people up out of Egypt.

I set them free from the land

where they were slaves.

I sent Moses to lead them.

Aaron and Miriam helped him.

5 Remember how Balak, the king of Moab,

planned to put a curse on your people.

But Balaam, the son of Beor,

gave them a blessing instead.

Remember their journey from Shittim to Gilgal.

I want you to know

that I always do what is right.”

6 The people of Israel say,

“What should we bring with us

when we go to worship the Lord?

What should we offer the God of heaven

when we bow down to him?

Should we take burnt offerings to him?

Should we sacrifice calves

that are a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams?

Will he take delight in 10,000 rivers of olive oil?

Should we offer our oldest sons

for the wrong things we’ve done?

Should we sacrifice our own children

to pay for our sins?”

8 The Lord has shown you what is good.

He has told you what he requires of you.

You must treat people fairly.

You must love others faithfully.

And you must be very careful to live

the way your God wants you to.

3 “My people, what have I done to you,

And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

4 “Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt

And ransomed you from the house of slavery,

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

5 “My people, remember now

What Balak king of Moab counseled

And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

And from Shittim to Gilgal,

So that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

6 With what shall I come to the Lord

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,

With yearling calves?

7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?