Numbers 12

1 And Marie spak and Aaron ayens Moises, for his wijf a womman of Ethiope,

And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, on account of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for an Ethiopian woman had he married.

2 and seiden, Whethir God spak oneli by Moises? whethir he spak not also to vs in lijk maner? And whanne the Lord hadde herd this, he was wrooth greetli;

And they said, Hath then only with Moses the Lord spoken? hath he not also spoken with us? And the Lord heard it.

3 for Moises was the myldest man, ouer alle men that dwelliden in erthe.

(But the man Moses was very meek, more so than any man who was upon the face of the earth.)

4 And anoon the Lord spak to Moises and to Aaron and to Marye, Go out ye thre aloone to the tabernacle of boond of pees. And whanne thei weren gon yn,

And the Lord said suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Go out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation; and these three went out.

5 the Lord cam doun in a piler of cloude, and he stood in the entryng of the tabernacle, and clepide Aaron and Marie.

And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tabernacle; and he called Aaron and Miriam, and both of them went out.

6 And whanne thei hadden go, he seide to hem, Here ye my wordis; if ony among you is a profete of the Lord, Y schal appere to hym in reuelacioun, ethir Y schal speke to hym bi `a dreem.

And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet of your kind, I, the Lord, do make myself known unto him in a vision, in a dream do I speak with him.

7 And he seide, And my seruaunt Moises is not siche, which is moost feithful in al myn hows;

Not so is my servant Moses, in all my house is he faithful.

8 for Y speke to hym mouth to mouth, and he seeth God opynli, and not bi derke spechis and figuris. Why therfor dredden ye not to bacbite `ether depraue my seruaunt Moises?

Mouth to mouth do I speak with him, even evidently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord doth he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?

9 And the Lord was wrooth ayens hem, and he wente a wei.

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he went away.

10 And the cloude yede awei, that was on the tabernacle and lo! Marie apperide whijt with lepre as snow. And whanne Aaron biheelde hir, and siy hir bispreynd with lepre,

And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, [white] as snow; and Aaron turned toward Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

11 he seide to Moises, My lord, Y beseche, putte thou not this synne on vs,

Then said Aaron unto Moses, Alas, my Lord, do not, I beseech thee, account to us as sin that wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

12 which we diden folili, that this womman be not maad as deed, and as a deed borun thing which is cast out of the `wombe of his modir; lo! now the half of hir fleisch is deuourid with lepre.

Let her not be as a dead-born child, of which half the flesh is consumed, when it cometh out of its mother's womb.

13 And Moises criede to the Lord, and seide, Lord, Y biseche, heele thou hir.

And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, O God! do thou heal her, I beseech thee.

14 To whom the Lord answerid, If hir fadir hadde spet in to hir face, where sche ouyte not to be fillid with schame, nameli in seuene daies? Therfor be sche departid out of the tentis bi seuen daies, and aftirward sche schal be clepid ayen.

And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had spit in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut up seven days outside of the camp, and after that let her be brought in again.

15 And so Marie was excludid out of the tentis bi seuene daies; and the puple was not mouyd fro that place, til Marie was clepid ayen.

And Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days; and the people did not set forward till Miriam was brought in again.

16 And the puple yede forth fro Asseroth, whanne the tentis weren set in the deseert of Pharan.

And afterward the people removed from Chazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.