Numbers 12:1–15

MIRIAM AND AARON REBEL

12Miriam^v and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). ²They said, “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does he not also speak through us?” And the Lord heard it. ³Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.

⁴Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out. ⁵Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud,^a stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, ⁶he said:

“Listen to what I say:

If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,

I make myself known to him in a vision;^b

I speak with him in a dream.

⁷Not so with my servant Moses;

he is faithful in^A all my household.^c

⁸I speak with him^d directly,^B

openly, and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.^e

So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” ⁹The Lord’s anger burned against them,^f and he left.

¹⁰As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow.^C When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased ¹¹and said to Moses, “My lord, please don’t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. ¹²Please don’t let her be like a dead baby^D whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”

¹³Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “God, please heal her!”^g

¹⁴The Lord answered Moses, “If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn’t she remain in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp^h for seven days;ⁱ after that she may be brought back in.” ¹⁵So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought back in.^j