Numbers 12

¹And Marie spak and Aaron ayens Moises, for his wijf a womman of Ethiope,

²and seiden, Whethir God spak oneli by Moises? whethir he spak not also to vs in lijk maner? And whanne the Lord hadde herd this, he was wrooth greetli;

³for Moises was the myldest man, ouer alle men that dwelliden in erthe.

⁴And anoon the Lord spak to Moises and to Aaron and to Marye, Go out ye thre aloone to the tabernacle of boond of pees. And whanne thei weren gon yn,

⁵the Lord cam doun in a piler of cloude, and he stood in the entryng of the tabernacle, and clepide Aaron and Marie.

⁶And whanne thei hadden go, he seide to hem, Here ye my wordis; if ony among you is a profete of the Lord, Y schal appere to hym in reuelacioun, ethir Y schal speke to hym bi `a dreem.

⁷And he seide, And my seruaunt Moises is not siche , which is moost feithful in al myn hows;

⁸for Y speke to hym mouth to mouth, and he seeth God opynli , and not bi derke spechis and figuris. Why therfor dredden ye not to bacbite `ether depraue my seruaunt Moises?

⁹And the Lord was wrooth ayens hem, and he wente a wei.

¹⁰And the cloude yede awei, that was on the tabernacle and lo! Marie apperide whijt with lepre as snow. And whanne Aaron biheelde hir, and siy hir bispreynd with lepre,

¹¹he seide to Moises, My lord, Y beseche, putte thou not this synne on vs,

¹²which we diden folili, that this womman be not maad as deed, and as a deed borun thing which is cast out of the `wombe of his modir; lo! now the half of hir fleisch is deuourid with lepre.

¹³And Moises criede to the Lord, and seide, Lord, Y biseche, heele thou hir.

¹⁴To whom the Lord answerid, If hir fadir hadde spet in to hir face, where sche ouyte not to be fillid with schame, nameli in seuene daies? Therfor be sche departid out of the tentis bi seuen daies, and aftirward sche schal be clepid ayen.

¹⁵And so Marie was excludid out of the tentis bi seuene daies; and the puple was not mouyd fro that place, til Marie was clepid ayen.

Numbers 12

¹And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

²And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

³(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

⁴And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

⁵And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

⁶And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

⁷My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

⁸With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

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

¹⁰And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

¹¹And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

¹²Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.

¹³And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

¹⁴And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

¹⁵And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

¹⁶And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.