< Numbers 12 >

1 And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife the Ethiopian,
Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.
2 And they said: Hath the Lord spoken by Moses only? hath he not also spoken to us in like manner? And when the Lord heard this,
“Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.
3 (For Moses was a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon earth)
Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.
4 Immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and Mary: Come out you three only to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when they were come out,
And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out,
5 The Lord came down in a pillar of the cloud, and stood in the entry of the tabernacle calling to Aaron and Mary. And when they were come,
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,
6 He said to them: Hear my words: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream.
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.
7 But it is not so with my servant Moses a who is most faithful in all my house:
But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house.
8 For I speak to him mouth to mouth: and plainly, and not by riddles and figures doth he see the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak ill of my servant Moses?
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?”
9 And being angry with them he went away:
So the anger of the LORD burned against them, and He departed.
10 The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed: and behold Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy. And when Aaron had looked on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy,
As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,
11 He said to Moses: I beseech thee, my lord, lay not upon us this sin, which we have foolishly committed:
and said to Moses, “My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed.
12 Let her not be as one dead, and as an abortive that is cast forth from the mother’s womb. Lo, now one half of her flesh is consumed with the leprosy.
Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: O God, I beseech thee heal her.
So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!”
14 And the Lord answered him: If her father had spitten upon her face, ought she not to have been ashamed for seven days at least? Let her be separated seven days without the camp, and after wards she shall be called again.
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.”
15 Mary therefore was put out of the camp seven days: and the people moved not from that place until Mary was called again.
So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again.
16 And the people marched from Haseroth, and pitched their tents in the desert of Pharan.
After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

< Numbers 12 >