Numbers 12

¹Now Miriam and Aaron said evil against Moses, because of the Cushite woman to whom he was married, for he had taken a Cushite woman as his wife.

²And they said, Have the words of the Lord been given to Moses only? have they not come to us? And the Lord took note of it.

³Now the man Moses was more gentle than any other man on earth.

⁴And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of meeting. And the three of them went out.

⁵And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, taking his place at the door of the Tent, and made Aaron and Miriam come before him.

⁶And he said, Now give ear to my words: if there is a prophet among you I will give him knowledge of myself in a vision and will let my words come to him in a dream.

⁷My servant Moses is not so; he is true to me in all my house:

⁸With him I will have talk mouth to mouth, openly and not in dark sayings; and with his eyes he will see the form of the Lord: why then had you no fear of saying evil against my servant Moses?

⁹And burning with wrath against them, the Lord went away.

¹⁰And the cloud was moved from over the Tent; and straight away Miriam became a leper, as white as snow: and Aaron, looking at Miriam, saw that she was a leper.

¹¹Then Aaron said to Moses, O my lord, let not our sin be on our heads, for we have done foolishly and are sinners.

¹²Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half wasted when he comes out from the body of his mother.

¹³And Moses, crying to the Lord, said, Let my prayer come before you, O God, and make her well.

¹⁴And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had put a mark of shame on her, would she not be shamed for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the tent-circle for seven days, and after that she may come in again.

¹⁵So Miriam was shut up outside the tent-circle for seven days: and the people did not go forward on their journey till Miriam had come in again.

¹⁶After that, the people went on from Hazeroth and put up their tents in the waste land of Paran.

Numbers 12

¹Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.

²They said, "Has the Lord indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn't he spoken also with us?" And the Lord heard it.

³Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the earth.

⁴The Lord spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, "You three come out to the Tent of Meeting!" The three of them came out.

⁵The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward.

⁶He said, "Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.

⁷My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house.

⁸With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the Lord's form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?"

⁹The anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

¹⁰The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

¹¹Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, please do not count this sin against us, in which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned.

¹²Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb."

¹³Moses cried to the Lord, saying, "Heal her, God, I beg you!"

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn't she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again."

¹⁵Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people did not travel until Miriam was brought in again.

¹⁶Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.