The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a ^(A)Cushite woman); ^2 (B)and they said, “Is it a fact that the Lord has spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard this. ³ (Now the man Moses was ^(C)very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.) ⁴ And the Lord suddenly said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “You three go out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out. ^5 (D)Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, ⁶ He said,

⁹ And the anger of the Lord burned against them and ^(K)He departed. ¹⁰ But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, ^(L)Miriam was leprous, as ^(M)white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. ¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, ^(N)do not ^[c]hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned. ¹² Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” ¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “God, ^(O)heal her, please!” ¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only ^(P)spit in her face, would she not be put to shame for seven days? Have her shut ^(Q)outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” ¹⁵ So ^(R)Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.

¹⁶ Afterward, however, the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Dire Warnings

^38 (A)John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^(B)we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ^40 (C)For the one who is not against us is ^[a]for us.

Second Missionary Journey

³⁶ After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in ^(A)every city in which we proclaimed ^(B)the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take ^(C)John, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸ But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had ^(D)deserted them ^[a]in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^(E)Mark with him and sailed away to ^(F)Cyprus. ⁴⁰ But Paul chose ^(G)Silas, and left after being ^(H)entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he was traveling through ^(I)Syria and ^(J)Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

The Gospel Is Preached

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my circumstances ^(A)have turned out for the greater progress of the ^(B)gospel, ¹³ so that my ^[a](C)imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the ^[b]praetorian guard and to ^(D)everyone else, ¹⁴ and that most of the brothers and sisters, ^[c]trusting in the Lord because of my ^[d](E)imprisonment, have ^(F)far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. ^15 (G)Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even ^[e]from envy and strife, but some also ^[f]from goodwill; ¹⁶ the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the ^(H)gospel; ¹⁷ the former proclaim Christ ^(I)out of selfish ambition ^[g]rather than from pure motives, thinking that they are causing me distress in my ^[h](J)imprisonment. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

But not only that, I also will rejoice,