Numbers 12

1 And Miriam speaks—Aaron also—against Moses concerning the circumstance of the Cushite woman whom he had taken, for he had taken a Cushite woman;

Miriam and Aaron were critical of Moses because of his Ethiopian wife—he'd married an Ethiopian woman.

2 and they say, “Has YHWH only spoken by Moses? Has he not also spoken by us?” And YHWH hears.

“Is it only through Moses that the Lord speaks?” they asked. “Doesn't he speak through us too?” The Lord heard all this.

3 And the man Moses [is] very humble, more than any of the men who [are] on the face of the ground.

Moses was a very humble man, more than anyone else on earth.

4 And YHWH suddenly says to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting”; and those three come out.

All of a sudden the Lord called for Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, telling them, “The three of you, come to the Tent of Meeting.” The three of them did so.

5 And YHWH comes down in the pillar of the cloud, and stands at the opening of the tent, and calls Aaron and Miriam, and both of them come out.

The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood in the entrance to the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam and they came forward.

6 And He says, “Now hear My words: If your prophet is of YHWH, I make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.

“Now listen to my words, he told them. If you had prophets, I the Lord would reveal myself to them in visions; I would communicate with them in dreams.

7 Not so My servant Moses; He [is] steadfast in all My house.

But it's not like this with my servant Moses, who of all my people is the one who is faithful.

8 I speak with him mouth to mouth, Even [by] an appearance, and not in riddles; And he beholds the form of YHWH attentively. Now why have you not been afraid To speak against My servant—against Moses?”

I talk to him personally, face to face. I speak plainly, not in riddles. He sees the likeness of the Lord. So why weren't you afraid when you criticized my servant Moses?”

9 And the anger of YHWH burns against them, and He goes on,

The Lord was angry with them, and he left.

10 and the cloud has turned aside from off the tent, and behold, Miriam [is] leprous as snow; and Aaron turns to Miriam, and behold, leprous!

As the cloud rose above the Tent, Miriam's skin suddenly turned white with leprosy. Aaron turned to look and saw that she had leprosy.

11 And Aaron says to Moses, “O my lord, please do not lay [this] sin on us [in] which we have been foolish, and [in] which we have sinned;

He said to Moses, “My lord, please don't punish us for this sin that we've so stupidly committed.

12 please do not let her be as [one] dead, when in his coming out from the womb of his mother—the half of his flesh is consumed.”

Please don't let her become like a stillborn baby whose flesh is already decaying when they're born!”

13 And Moses cries to YHWH, saying, “O God, please give healing to her! Please!”

Moses called out to the Lord, “God, please heal her!”

14 And YHWH says to Moses, “But [if] her father had but spat in her face—is she not ashamed [for] seven days? She is shut out [for] seven days at the outside of the camp, and afterward she is gathered.”

But the Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face wouldn't she have been disgraced for seven days? Keep her in isolation outside the camp for seven days, and then she can be taken back in.”

15 And Miriam is shut out at the outside of the camp [for] seven days, and the people have not journeyed until Miriam is gathered;

Miriam was kept in isolation outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was taken back in.

16 and afterward the people have journeyed from Hazeroth, and they encamp in the wilderness of Paran.

Then the people left Hazeroth and set up camp in the Desert of Paran.