“‘With what shall I come
Before Yahweh?
Shall I bow myself
Before God on high?
Shall I come before him
With burnt offerings?
Shall I come before him
With calves a year old?
Will Yahweh be pleased
With thousands of rams?
Will Yahweh be pleased
With ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give
My first-born
For my transgression?
Shall I give
The fruit of my body
For the sin of my soul?’
O mortal!
He has showed you
What is good!
What does Yahweh
Require of you?
But you are
To do justice,
To love kindness,
To walk humbly
With your God!”
Yahweh, via Micah, once again showed the relationship between worship and justice. Much like the written prophets, Amos, chapter 5, Hosea, chapter 2, and Isaiah, chapters 7 and 30, the emphasis was on justice over sacrificial gifts. Micah asked what kind of gifts he should bring to Yahweh, the high God. Would Yahweh be happy with burnt offerings of one-year old calves? Would 1,000 rams please him? Would 10,000 rivers of oil be enough for Yahweh? Should he offer up his firstborn son to save his soul? Micah pointed out what Yahweh required. Yahweh wanted them to do justice and love kindness. Very simply, they were to walk humbly with their God, Yahweh.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 