Meaning, commentary and cross references
Micah 6:8
“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?”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
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?
NIV · New International Version
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.
WEB · World English Bible
He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
What does Micah 6:8 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Micah 6:8
He hath showed me, O man, what is good,.... This is not the answer of the prophet to the body of the people, or to any and every one of the people of Israel; but of Balaam to Balak, a single man, that consulted with him, and put questions to him; particularly what he should do to please the Lord, and what righteousness he required of him, that would be acceptable to him; and though he was a king, he was but a man, and he would have him know it that he was no more, and as such addresses him; and especially when he is informing him of his duty to God; which lay not in such things as he had proposed, but in doing that which was good, and avoiding that which was evil, in a moral sense: and this…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Micah 6:6–8
8. Indicavit tibi, homo, quid bonum; et quid Jehova quaerit abs te nisi facere judicium et deligere clementiam (vel, bonitatem,) et humiliari ut ambules cum Deo tuo. The Prophet now inquires, as in the name of the people, what was necessary to be done: and he takes these two principles as granted, -- that the people were without any excuse, and were forced to confess their sin, -- and that God had hitherto contended with them for no other end and with no other design, but to restore the people to the right way; for if his purpose had only been to condemn the people for their wickedness, there would have been no need of these questions. But the Prophet shows what has been often stated…
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Micah 6:5–11 (WEB)
5My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.” 6How shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? 9The LORD’s voice calls to the city— and wisdom fears your name— “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it. 10Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed? 11Shall I tolerate dishonest scales, and a bag of deceitful weights?
Cross references
- Deuteronomy 10:12–13
Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Proverbs 21:3
To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
- Colossians 3:12
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
- Jeremiah 22:3
The LORD says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
- Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
- 1 Samuel 15:22
Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the LORD’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
- Isaiah 66:2
For my hand has made all these things, and so all these things came to be,” says the LORD: “but I will look to this man, even to he who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.
- 1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you be like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous,
Key words
In the Baptist Catechism
- Q45. What is the duty which God requires of man?
The duty which God requires of man, is obedience to His revealed will.