Numbers 12

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

[Moses’/My older sister] Miriam and [his/my older brother] Aaron were saying this: “Is Moses the only one to whom Yahweh has spoken messages to tell to us [RHQ]? Does Yahweh not speak messages to us two also?” [They told people that] they were saying that because Moses/I had married a woman who was a descendant of the Cush people-group, [but they were really saying that because they (were jealous/did not want Moses/me to be the only leader of the Israeli people)]. But Yahweh heard what they were saying.

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

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

[The truth was that] Moses/I was very humble. He/I was more humble than anyone else on the earth [and Moses/I had not appointed himself/myself to be their leader].

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,

So immediately Yahweh spoke to Moses/me and to Aaron and Miriam. He said, “All three of you must go and stand at the Sacred Tent.” So they/we did that.

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,

Then Yahweh descended to the entrance of the tent in a cloud [that resembled a huge white] pillar. He told Aaron and Miriam to step forward, so they did.

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.

Then he said to them, “Listen to me! When a prophet is among you, I [usually] reveal myself to him by allowing him to see visions, and I speak to him in dreams.

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

But that is not the way I speak to my servant Moses. I trust that he will lead my people [well].

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?”

So I talk to him face-to-face. I speak to him (clearly/using words that he will understand easily), not using parables. He has even seen what I look like. So you should be afraid to criticize my servant Moses!”

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

Yahweh was very angry with Miriam and Aaron, and he left.

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,

When the cloud rose up from the Sacred Tent, Aaron looked at Miriam, and he saw that her skin was [as white] as snow, because she now had leprosy.

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

Aaron said to Moses/me, “My master, please do not punish us for this sin that we have foolishly committed.

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 allow Miriam to be like a baby that is already dead when it is born, whose flesh is already half decayed!”

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

So Moses/I cried out to Yahweh, saying, “God, I plead with you to 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.”

But Yahweh replied, “If her father had [rebuked her for doing something wrong by] spitting in her face, she would have been ashamed for seven days. [She should be ashamed because of what she has done]. So send her outside the camp for seven days. Then [she will not have leprosy any more, and] she may return to the camp.”

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

So they sent her outside the camp for seven days. (The people/We) did not move [to another location] until she returned.

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

But after [she returned], they/we left Hazeroth and moved [north] in the Paran Desert and set up their/our tents there.