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Micah 6
6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 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?
9 The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
(8,6,8,6)
Thus speaks the heathen: How shall man
the Pow’r Supreme adore?
With what accepted off’rings come
his mercy to implore?
Shall clouds of incense to the skies
with grateful odour speed?
Or victims from a thousand hills
upon the altar bleed?
Does justice nobler blood demand
to save the sinner’s life?
Shall, trembling, in his offspring’s side
the father plunge the knife?
No: God rejects the bloody rites
which blindfold zeal began;
His oracles of truth proclaim
the message brought to man.
He what is good hath clearly shown,
O favoured race! to thee;
And what doth God require of those
who bend to him the knee?
Thy deeds, let sacred justice rule;
thy heart, let mercy fill;
And, walking humbly with thy God,
to him resign thy will.
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