What Shall I Bring? · Micah and Hosea · Elias Thorn
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What Shall I Bring? · Micah and Hosea

Micah 6:6–8; Hosea 6:6 · two separate passages

Mic 6:6 'Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old?

Mic 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, 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?'

Mic 6:8 It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what the LORD doth require of thee: only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

Hos 6:6 For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.

Hebrew text

מיכה 6:6 בַּמָּה אֲקַדֵּם יְהוָה, אִכַּף לֵאלֹהֵי מָרוֹם; הַאֲקַדְּמֶנּוּ בְעוֹלוֹת, בַּעֲגָלִים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה. 6:7 הֲיִרְצֶה יְהוָה בְּאַלְפֵי אֵילִים, בְּרִבְבוֹת נַחֲלֵי-שָׁמֶן; הַאֶתֵּן בְּכוֹרִי פִּשְׁעִי, פְּרִי בִטְנִי חַטַּאת נַפְשִׁי. 6:8 הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם, מַה-טּוֹב; וּמָה-יְהוָה דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ, כִּי אִם-עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד, וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת, עִם-אֱלֹהֶיךָ. הושע 6:6 כִּי חֶסֶד חָפַצְתִּי, וְלֹא-זָבַח; וְדַעַת אֱלֹהִים, מֵעֹלוֹת.

Reading notes

In Micah 6 the LORD disputes with his people. The questions about offerings escalate from a calf to thousands of rams, rivers of oil and one’s own first-born. Verse 8 turns to doing justice, loving mercy and walking with God.

Hosea speaks in a different setting. Shortly before the selected verse, Ephraim’s and Judah’s faithfulness is compared to a morning cloud and dew that quickly disappears. The word חֶסֶד (hesed), rendered here as “mercy”, includes faithful love and loyalty. Knowing God in this speech concerns relationship and faithfulness.

Both passages invite a question about what underlies an offering and how it relates to conduct. Placing them together does not establish that all biblical texts understand sacrifice alike or abolish ritual altogether.

Russian: the Synodal translation. English: the Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917 (JPS 1917). These are historical translations, not back-translations of one another. The Hebrew text follows Mechon-Mamre. The historical translations are in the public domain; modern edition notes and cross-references are not reproduced. The two books are placed alongside one another editorially; the passages are not a single continuous speech.

Open source ↗ (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1806.htm)

Micah 6 · Hebrew and JPS 1917 (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1806.htm)

Hosea 6 · Hebrew and JPS 1917 (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1306.htm)

Micah 6 · Synodal translation (https://www.bible.com/ru/bible/400/MIC.6.SYNO)

Hosea 6 · Synodal translation (https://www.bible.com/ru/bible/400/HOS.6.SYNO)

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