Numbers 12

1 Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.

And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife, an Ethiopian,

2 “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.

and they said: “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not also spoken similarly to us?” And when the Lord had heard this,

3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.

(for Moses was a man exceedingly meek, beyond all the men who were living upon the earth)

4 And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out,

immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and Miriam, “Go out, you three only, to the tabernacle of the covenant.” And when they had gone out,

5 and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward,

the Lord descended in a column of cloud, and he stood at the entrance of the tabernacle, calling to Aaron and Miriam. And when they had advanced,

6 He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.

he said to them: “Listen to my words. If there will be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him through a dream.

7 But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house.

But it is not so with my servant Moses, who is the most faithful in all my house.

8 I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

For I speak with him mouth to mouth, and plainly. And not through enigmas and figures does he perceive the Lord. Therefore, why were you not afraid to disparage my servant Moses?”

9 So the anger of the LORD burned against them, and He departed.

And being angry against them, he went away.

10 As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,

Likewise, the cloud which was over the tabernacle withdrew. And behold, Miriam appeared to be white with a leprosy, like snow. And when Aaron had looked upon her, and he had seen the spreading of the leprosy,

11 and said to Moses, “My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed.

he said to Moses: “I beg you, my lord, not to impose upon us this sin, which we have committed foolishly.

12 Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”

Do not let this one be like one who is dead, or like an abortion that has been cast from the womb of her mother. Behold, half of her flesh is already consumed by leprosy.”

13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!”

And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “O God, I beg you: heal her.”

14 But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.”

And the Lord answered him: “If her father had spit on her face, should she not have been filled with shame for at least seven days? Let her be separated, outside the camp, for seven days, and after that, she will be called back.”

15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again.

And so Miriam was excluded from the camp for seven days. And the people did not move from that place, until Miriam was called back.

16 After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

And the people set out from Hazeroth, and they pitched their tents in the desert of Paran.