Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12 Miriam^(A) and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife,^(B) for he had married a Cushite. ² “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”^(C) And the Lord heard this.^(D)

³ (Now Moses was a very humble man,^(E) more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

⁴ 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. ⁵ Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud;^(F) he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, ⁶ he said, “Listen to my words:

⁹ The anger of the Lord burned against them,^(O) and he left them.^(P)

¹⁰ When the cloud lifted from above the tent,^(Q) Miriam’s skin was leprous^[a]—it became as white as snow.^(R) Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,^{(S) 11} and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.^{(T) 12} Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!^(U)”

¹⁴ The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face,^(V) would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp^(W) for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp^(X) for seven days,^(Y) and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

¹⁶ After that, the people left Hazeroth^(Z) and encamped in the Desert of Paran.^(AA)

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”^(A)

So Paul motioned with his hand^(B) and began his defense: ² “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you^(C) today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,^{(D) 3} and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs^(E) and controversies.^(F) Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child,^(G) from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time^(H) and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect^(I) of our religion, living as a Pharisee.^{(J) 6} And now it is because of my hope^(K) in what God has promised our ancestors^(L) that I am on trial today. ⁷ This is the promise our twelve tribes^(M) are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night.^(N) King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me.^{(O) 8} Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?^(P)

⁹ “I too was convinced^(Q) that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose^(R) the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{(S) 10} And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people^(T) in prison,^(U) and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.^{(V) 11} Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,^(W) and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

¹² “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice^(X) saying to me in Aramaic,^[a](Y) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^(Z) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^{(AA) 17} I will rescue you^(AB) from your own people and from the Gentiles.^(AC) I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes^(AD) and turn them from darkness to light,^(AE) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^(AF) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(AG)