Numbers 12
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Miriam and Aaron Rebel
12 Miriam(A) and Aaron criticised Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). 2 They said, ‘Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does he not also speak through us? ’ And the Lord heard it. 3 Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.
4 Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, ‘You three come out to the tent of meeting.’ So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud,(B) stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, 6 he said:
‘Listen to what I say:
If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,
I make myself known to him in a vision;(C)
I speak with him in a dream.
7 Not so with my servant Moses;
he is faithful in[a] all my household.(D)
8 I speak with him(E) directly,[b]
openly, and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.(F)
So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? ’ 9 The Lord’s anger burned against them,(G) and he left.
10 As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow.[c] When Aaron turned towards her, he saw that she was diseased 11 and said to Moses, ‘My lord, please don’t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Please don’t let her be like a dead baby[d] whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.’
13 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘God, please heal her! ’(H)
14 The Lord answered Moses, ‘If her father had merely spat in her face, wouldn’t she remain in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp(I) for seven days;(J) after that she may be brought back in.’ 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought back in.(K) 16 After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.
Numbers 12
Easy-to-Read Version
Miriam and Aaron Criticize Moses
12 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses. They criticized him because he married an Ethiopian[a] woman. 2 They said to themselves, “Moses is not the only one the Lord has used to speak to the people. He has also spoken through us!”
The Lord heard this. 3 (Moses was a very humble man. He was more humble than any other man on earth.) 4 So suddenly, the Lord came and spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. He said, “You three, come to the Meeting Tent, now!”
So Moses, Aaron, and Miriam went to the Tent. 5 The Lord came down in the tall cloud and stood at the entrance to the Tent. He called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” They went to him. 6 God said, “Listen to me! You will have prophets. I, the Lord, will let them learn about me through visions. I will speak to them in dreams. 7 But Moses is not like that. He is my faithful servant—I trust him with everyone in my house. 8 When I speak to him, I talk face to face with him. I don’t use stories with hidden meanings—I show him clearly what I want him to know. And Moses can look at the very image of the Lord. So why were you brave enough to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The Lord was very angry with them, and he left them. 10 The cloud rose from the Tent. Aaron turned and looked at Miriam. Her skin was white like snow—she had a terrible skin disease!
11 Then Aaron said to Moses, “Please, sir, forgive us for the foolish sin that we did. 12 Don’t let her lose her skin like a baby who is born dead.” (Sometimes a baby will be born like that, with half of its skin eaten away.)
13 So Moses prayed to the Lord, “God, please heal her from this sickness!”
14 The Lord answered Moses, “If her father spit in her face, she would be shamed for seven days. So put her outside the camp for seven days. After that she can come back into the camp.”
15 So they took Miriam outside the camp for seven days. And the people did not move from that place until she was brought in again. 16 After that the people left Hazeroth and traveled to the desert of Paran where they set up camp.
Footnotes
- Numbers 12:1 Ethiopian Or “Cushite,” a person from Ethiopia, in Africa.
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