Numbers 12

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

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

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 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,

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 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.

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 it is not so with my servant Moses, who is the most 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 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?”

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 And being angry against them, he went away.

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

10 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,

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

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

12 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.”

Do not allow Miriam to be like a baby that is already dead when it is born, whose flesh is already half decayed!”

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

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

14 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.”

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 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.

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

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

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