This verse is the reply to the questions of the previous two verses, and the prophet himself says these words as spokesman for the Lord. In Good News Translation the link with the preceding question is brought out by the introductory word No, which shows that this verse is a reply and that it rejects the assumptions of the previous speaker. Many translators will find it helpful to use some similar link. The previous speaker is addressed literally as “O man” (Revised Standard Version), a term so general that it strengthens the view that the speaker was a representative of the whole nation. As there is no good equivalent in English, Good News Translation drops this vocative, or term of address, and many translators will wish to do the same. But in other languages it will be necessary to keep a term of address. The translator will have to decide whether to use “man” or some other general term.

As is expected after a vocative, the speaker is addressed in the second person. Good News Translation has changed this “you” to a first person plural us, which has the effect of including the prophet with the people he is speaking to. But this example is not followed by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and there seems to be no good reason for other translators to follow Good News Translation here. If a second person pronoun is retained, it may be singular or plural according to the usage of each receptor language. Some languages cannot use a collective singular in addressing a group, and in these languages a plural will be required.

The subject of the verb told (“showed” Revised Standard Version) is not altogether clear in Hebrew. Some translators, both ancient and modern, assume that the verb is passive, and so translate without naming anyone as the actor, as in “What is good has been explained to you” (Jerusalem Bible). The majority, however, believe that the verb is active, with the subject “He” (as Revised Standard Version). There is no noun in the immediate context for this pronoun to refer to, but the general context makes it clear that the subject must be the LORD (Good News Translation) or “God” (New English Bible). Both the LORD and “God” are used in the Hebrew of this verse, so a translator is free to use either one here. Translators should be careful, though, that the wording of this verse does not sound as though the Lord and God are two different persons.

The word good covers a broad area of meaning, and the term chosen to translate it should be a general term that refers to good moral qualities. The whole sentence the LORD has told us what is good refers in a comprehensive way to all the moral teaching the people of Israel have had. This includes both the written Law and the teachings of previous prophets. It may be clearer in some languages to say “the Lord has told us what is good for us to do.” The expression what is good also occurs in 3.2, though in a rather different context.

Micah then goes on to give his own summary of the Lord’s will as revealed through his predecessors. This summary is the best known sentence in the whole book and is indeed one of the high points of the Old Testament. In Hebrew it is put in the form of a question, as in Revised Standard Version, but a number of modern versions such as Jerusalem Bible and Good News Translation turn it into a statement. Many translators will also find it clearer to do this. What the Lord requires is explained in three brief phrases: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. This reply completely ignores the sacrificial system that the speaker in verses 6 and 7 was thinking about, and it expresses God’s will in moral rather than ceremonial terms. The prophet’s point is that the outward and ceremonial forms of religion should reflect an inner moral relationship with God, and without this relationship all ceremony is useless.

Requires of you can be translated as “asks you to do” or “expects you to do.” Some restructuring may be necessary in some languages. One possibility is “This (meaning ‘the following’) is the way the Lord wants you to live. He wants you to….”

To do what is just (“to do justice” Revised Standard Version) is a very broad term that involves right and fair relationships in the community, especially in legal and financial affairs. As 3.1 shows, this quality was often sadly lacking in the public life of Micah’s day.

Constant love is the Hebrew term chesed. Revised Standard Version has “kindness” in the text, with the alternative “steadfast love” in a footnote. This term has a general sense of faithfulness and reliability, but it is especially used in connection with covenant relationships. It seems that this aspect of the word is in the prophet’s mind here. In verses 3-5 the Lord had accused his people of failing in their covenant obligations to him, and here constant love refers in particular to loyalty to the Lord as God of the covenant. But it also implies kindness in dealings with other men, since this is one of the obvious ways by which a man shows his relationship with God. Many translators will not have a single term to cover this wide area of meaning, and they may need to use a phrase such as “constant love to God and man.” Constant can be expressed as “faithful” or “lasting.”

The third phrase is literally “to walk humbly with your God” (Revised Standard Version). Here “walk” is used in a figurative sense, and Good News Translation brings out its plain meaning with to live. In some languages it will be possible to retain the figurative term “walk” in this sense.

The word translated humble is a rare Hebrew term, occurring in the Old Testament only here and in Prov 11.2, where it is contrasted with “proud.” The meaning is not known for certain, but it probably means humble in the sense of not insisting on one’s own way but readily doing what God wants.

Fellowship with God can also be translated as “living one’s life by always doing God’s will,” though this would not suggest the close personal relationship implied by “walking with” or “fellowship.”

It has already been suggested above that most translators will want to follow the Hebrew and use “you” rather than “we” or “us” in this verse. However, even if this is possible in most of the verse, some translators may not want to have the prophet say “your God” here at the end, since in some languages this would sound as though he is denying that God is also his God. If this a problem, it is possible to translate either as “our God” or simply “God.”

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 .