And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? (A)Has he not spoken through us also?” And (B)the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And 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. And (C)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. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him (D)in a vision; I speak with him (E)in a dream. Not so with (F)my servant Moses. (G)He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak (H)mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in (I)riddles, and he beholds (J)the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, (K)Miriam was (L)leprous,[a] like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, (M)do not punish us[b] because we have done foolishly and have sinned.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 12:10 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  2. Numbers 12:11 Hebrew do not lay sin upon us

“Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”(A) And the Lord heard this.(B)

(Now Moses was a very humble man,(C) more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud;(D) he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,
    I, the Lord, reveal(E) myself to them in visions,(F)
    I speak to them in dreams.(G)
But this is not true of my servant Moses;(H)
    he is faithful in all my house.(I)
With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;(J)
    he sees the form of the Lord.(K)
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”(L)

The anger of the Lord burned against them,(M) and he left them.(N)

10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent,(O) Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow.(P) Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,(Q) 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.(R)

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 12:10 The Hebrew for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin.