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); (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. (Now the man Moses was (C)very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.) 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. (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, He said,

“Now hear My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, will make Myself known to him in a (E)vision.
I will speak with him in a (F)dream.
It is not this way for (G)My servant Moses;
(H)He is faithful in all My household;
(I)With him I speak mouth to mouth,
That is, openly, and not [a]using [b]mysterious language,
And he beholds (J)the form of the Lord.
So why were you not afraid
To speak against My servant, against Moses?”

And the anger of the Lord burned against them and (K)He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, (L)Miriam was leprous, as (M)white as snow.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.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 12:8 Lit in
  2. Numbers 12:8 Lit riddles
  3. Numbers 12:11 Lit place the sin on us

Aaron and Miriam Murmur Against Moses

12 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he took (because he took a Cushite wife); and they said, “Has Yahweh spoken only through Moses? Has not Yahweh also spoken through us?” And Yahweh heard it. Now the man, Moses, was more humble than any other person on the face of the earth, and Yahweh said suddenly to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Go out, you three, to the tent of assembly.” So the three of them when out. And Yahweh went down in a column of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and he called Aaron and Miriam, and the two of them went, and he said,

“Please hear my words:
    If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh,
will make myself known to him in a vision.
    I will speak to him in a dream.[a]
Not so with my servant Moses;
    in all my house he is faithful.
I will speak to him mouth to mouth,
    in clearness, not in riddles;
and he will look at the form of Yahweh.

Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”

And Yahweh became very angry[b] with them, and he went away. 10 And the cloud departed from on the tent, and behold, Miriam was infected with a skin disease[c] white like snow; when Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was afflicted with a skin disease. 11 So Aaron said to Moses, “Please, my lord, please do not put on us this sin in which we were foolish and in which we have sinned. 12 Please do not let her be like the dead, whose flesh is half consumed when coming out from the womb of its mother.” 13 And Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “God, please heal her!”[d] 14 But Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had surely spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be confined for seven days to an outside place of the camp, and afterward she may be gathered.” 15 So Miriam was confined to the outside place of the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was gathered. 16 And afterward the people set out from Hazeroth, and they encamped in the desert of Paran.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 12:6 Hebrew “the dream”
  2. Numbers 12:9 Literally “And the nose of Yahweh became hot”
  3. Numbers 12:10 The precise meaning is uncertain; many modern translations suggest “leprosy”
  4. Numbers 12:13 Literally “Please heal please her”