We have come to the last paragraph in the book, a prayer or hymn of praise to God. Verse 18 opens with a question, “Who is a God like thee…?” (Revised Standard Version). The answer expected is clearly that there is no one like God, and so Good News Translation restructures the question as a negative statement, There is no other god like you, and adds O LORD, to show who is being spoken to. No matter how this is expressed, some translators may be hesitant to allow people to think that there are any other gods at all, even if they are not like the Lord. The problems in 4.5 are somewhat similar to this, and it may be useful to reread the discussion there on how to talk about the “gods” of other nations. As for this verse, we should note that in many languages these words would not be understood as saying that other gods do exist. It may be just a way of speaking, looking at the situation from the point of view of other peoples. Therefore it would seem best to follow the Hebrew wording here if at all possible. But if a translation will definitely suggest to the readers that the prophet is stating that other gods exist, then a translator should try to find some others way of expressing this idea. In that case, something like “No other god like you exists” or “There is no one like you, O God” may be a possibility.

The characteristic of God that marks him off as unique is here stated as his ability and willingness to forgive sin. In the Hebrew in this verse and the next, three common terms for sin are used (Revised Standard Version “iniquity” and “transgression” in verse 18, and “iniquities” and “sins” in verse 19). This has the effect of emphasizing the completeness of God’s ability to forgive all kinds of sin. If a translator has several words available in his language for sin in its different aspects, it would be good to use a variety in this passage. Good News Translation uses only the word sins in both verses, partly because the other terms available in English are less commonly known and therefore more difficult to the reader. Good News Translation also cuts out the parallel expressions “pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression” (Revised Standard Version), combining these statements into a single one, you forgive the sins of your people.

This experience of forgiven sin is for “the remnant of his inheritance” (Revised Standard Version), that is to say, those of God’s people who are still alive after the nation has been punished. Good News Translation expresses this as your people who have survived. The Hebrew word that is used for “inheritance” is the same term that occurred in verse 14, and it is represented by the words your people in Good News Translation. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what it is that the people have survived. One can say something like “your people who are still alive after we have been punished” or “those of your people whom our enemies have not destroyed.” It may also be confusing in some languages for the people to refer to themselves simply as your people, as though they were speaking about someone other than themselves. It may be better to use an expression like “us, who are your people.”

In Hebrew the second half of verse 18 and the first half of verse 19 are in the third person, whereas the beginning of verse 18, the end of verse 19, and the whole of verse 20 are in the second person. Some scholars think that this indicates that these verses were used for responsive reading or chanting. For many translators the change from second person to third person and back to second is very awkward and interrupts the flow of the sense. A number of modern English translations (Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New International Version, and Moffatt) keep the second person throughout the three verses, and most translators will prefer to do the same.

God may be angry with his people when they provoke him by their sins, but once they have been punished, he does not stay angry forever but takes pleasure in showing … constant love. Constant love is the quality that God has always shown toward his people in fulfillment of his covenant relationship with them. It is the quality that he expected his people to show toward him in return. At the opening of the court scene in 6.1-5, the Lord charged his people with failing to fulfill their side of the covenant, and in 6.8 the requirement of constant love was again emphasized. The same Hebrew root occurred again in 7.2, where the prophet complained of the lack of people “loyal to God.” Despite this he retains his assurance that the constant love of the Lord never changes, and that it is the basis for his willingness to forgive his people for their sins. The recurrence of this theme is one of the unifying factors in chapters 6 and 7, and it will be useful if translators can find some word or expression in their own language that may be used in all four places. However, this should not be done if there is no expression that sounds natural in all these contexts.

Note that Good News Translation makes explicit the objects of God’s constant love by including the word us. It may be necessary to restructure the last clause of this verse, since many languages may express these ideas in quite different ways. One possibility may be “you always love us faithfully.” There is a difference in emphasis between Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation in the way they relate the two clauses of this sentence. Revised Standard Version says that God does not stay angry “because” of his love. Good News Translation connects the two parts with the word but, simply contrasting the two attitudes. Translators may feel free to use whichever relationship sounds best in their languages.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .