¹Miriam and Aaron began to criticize Moses because he was married to a woman from Sudan. ²They asked, “Did the Lord speak only through Moses? Didn’t he also speak through us?” The Lord heard their complaint.

³(Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)

⁴Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “All three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So all three of them came. ⁵Then the Lord came down in the column of smoke and stood at the entrance to the tent. He called to Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.

⁶He said, “Listen to my words: When there are prophets of the Lord among you, I make myself known to them in visions or speak to them in dreams. ⁷But this is not the way I treat my servant Moses. He is the most faithful person in my household.^a⁸I speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles. He even sees the form of the Lord. Why weren’t you afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”

⁹The Lord was angry with them, so he left.

¹⁰When the smoke left the tent, Miriam was covered with an infectious skin disease. She was as white as snow. Aaron turned to her and saw she was covered with the disease. ¹¹So he said to Moses, “Please, sir, don’t punish us for this foolish sin we committed. ¹²Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby that’s not completely developed.”

¹³So Moses cried to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”

¹⁴The Lord replied to Moses, “If her own father had spit in her face, wouldn’t she be excluded from the community for seven days? She must be put in isolation outside the camp for seven days. Then she can be brought back.” ¹⁵So Miriam was put in isolation outside the camp for seven days. The people didn’t break camp until she was brought back.

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Footnotes

a 12:7 Or “He is in charge of my entire household.”