1Miriam and Aaron began to say bad things about Moses. That’s because Moses had married a woman from Cush.2‘Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?’ they asked. ‘Hasn’t he also spoken through us?’ The LORD heard what they said.3Moses was a very humble man. In fact, he was more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.4The LORD spoke to Moses, Aaron and Miriam. He said, ‘All three of you, come out to the tent of meeting.’ So they did.5Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud. He stood at the entrance to the tent. And he told Aaron and Miriam to come to him. The two of them stepped forward.6Then the LORD said, ‘Listen to my words. ‘Suppose there is a prophet among you. I, the LORD, make myself known to them in visions. I speak to them in dreams.7But this is not true of my servant Moses. He is faithful in everything he does in my house.8With Moses I speak face to face. I speak with him clearly. I do not speak in riddles. I let him see something of what I look like. So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?’9The LORD was very angry with them. And he left them.10When the cloud went up from above the tent, there stood Miriam. She had a disease that made her skin as white as snow. Aaron turned towards her. He saw that she had a skin disease.11So he said to Moses, ‘We have committed a very foolish sin. Please don’t hold it against us.12Don’t let Miriam be like a baby that was born dead. Don’t let her look like a dead baby whose body is half eaten away.’13So Moses cried out to the LORD. He said, ‘Please, God, heal her!’14The LORD answered Moses. He said, ‘Suppose her father had spat in her face. Then she would have been put to shame for seven days. So keep her outside the camp for seven days. After that, you can bring her back.’15So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days. The people didn’t move on until she was brought back.16After that, the people left Hazeroth. They camped in the Desert of Paran.
Numbers 12
English Standard Version
Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses
1Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.2And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. (Nu 11:1; 2Ki 19:4; Isa 37:4; Eze 35:12; Mic 6:4; Mal 3:16)3Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.4And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.5And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. (Nu 11:25; Nu 16:19)6And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. (Ge 20:6; Ge 31:10; Ge 46:2; 1Ki 3:5; Job 33:15; Eze 1:1; Da 8:2; Da 10:8; Da 10:16; Mt 1:20; Mt 27:19; Lu 1:11; Lu 1:22; Ac 10:11; Ac 22:17)7Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. (Ps 105:26; Heb 3:2; Heb 3:5)8With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (Ex 33:11; Ex 33:20; Ex 33:23; Nu 7:89; De 34:10; Ps 49:4; Ps 78:2; Pr 1:6; 1Co 13:12)9And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.10When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous,[1] like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. (Le 13:10; De 24:9)11And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us[2] because we have done foolishly and have sinned. (2Sa 19:19; 2Sa 24:10; Pr 30:32)12Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”13And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.”14But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” (Le 13:46; De 25:9; Job 30:10)15So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. (2Ki 15:5; 2Ch 26:20; Lu 17:12)16After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. (Nu 10:12; Nu 11:35; Nu 33:18)