⁹ And so the Lord’s wrath flared against them, and he departed.

Miriam’s Punishment. ¹⁰ Now the cloud withdrew from the tent, and there was Miriam,^(A) stricken with a scaly infection, white as snow!^[a] When Aaron turned toward Miriam and saw her stricken with snow-white scales, ¹¹ he said to Moses, “Ah, my lord! Please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed! ¹² Do not let her be like the stillborn baby that comes forth from its mother’s womb with its flesh half consumed.” ¹³ Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Please, not this! Please, heal her!” ¹⁴ But the Lord answered Moses: Suppose her father had spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; afterwards she may be brought back. ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not start out again until she was brought back.

⁴ though the high places did not disappear, and the people continued to sacrifice and to burn incense on the high places. ⁵ The Lord afflicted the king, and he was a leper until the day he died. He lived in a house apart, while Jotham, the king’s son, was master of the palace and ruled the people of the land.^[a]

Pride and Fall. ¹⁶ But after he had become strong, he became arrogant to his own destruction and acted treacherously with the Lord, his God. He entered the temple of the Lord to make an offering on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ But Azariah the priest, and with him eighty other priests of the Lord, courageous men, followed him. ¹⁸ They stood up to King Uzziah, saying to him: “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been consecrated for this purpose.^(A) Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted treacherously and no longer have a part in the glory that comes from the Lord God.” ¹⁹ Uzziah, who was holding a censer for burning the incense, became angry. But at the very moment he showed his anger to the priests, while they were looking at him in the house of the Lord beside the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead.^{(B) 20} Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests examined him, and when they saw that his forehead was leprous, they rushed him out. He let himself be expelled, for the Lord had afflicted him. ^21 (C)King Uzziah remained a leper till the day he died. As a leper he lived in a house apart, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. Therefore his son Jotham was master of the palace and ruled the people of the land.