^12:11So Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord,²² please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned! ^12:12Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half-consumed when it comes out of its²³ mother’s womb!”

^12:13Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.”²⁴^12:14The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit²⁵ in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.”

^12:15So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in.²⁶^12:16After that the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

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Footnotes

22 The expression בִּי אֲדֹנִי (bi ’adoni, “O my lord”) shows a good deal of respect for Moses by Aaron. The expression is often used in addressing God.
23 The words “its mother” and “its flesh” are among the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the text originally had here “our mother” and “our flesh,” but the ancient scribes changed these pronouns from the first person to the third person. Apparently they were concerned that the image of Moses’ mother giving birth to a baby with physical defects of the sort described here was somehow inappropriate, given the stature and importance of Moses.
24 Some scholars emend אֵל (’el, “God”) to עַל(’al, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the : “ ‘Please, not this! Pray, heal her!’ ”
25 The form is intensified by the infinitive absolute, but here the infinitive strengthens not simply the verbal idea but the conditional cause construction as well.
26 The clause has the Niphal infinitive construct after a temporal preposition.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

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

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

After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

and said to Moses, “My lord, please don’t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. Please don’t let her be like a dead baby whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”

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

The 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 for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.” So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought back in. After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

NLTNew Living Translation

he cried out to Moses, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed. Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby, already decayed at birth.”

So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, I beg you, please heal her!”

But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had done nothing more than spit in her face, wouldn’t she be defiled for seven days? So keep her outside the camp for seven days, and after that she may be accepted back.”

So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again. Then they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

So Aaron said to Moses, “Please, my lord, please do not put on us this sin in which we were foolish and in which we have sinned. Please do not let her be like the dead, whose flesh is half consumed when coming out from the womb of its mother.” And Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “God, please heal her!” But Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had surely spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be confined for seven days to an outside place of the camp, and afterward she may be gathered.” So Miriam was confined to the outside place of the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was gathered. And afterward the people set out from Hazeroth, and they encamped in the desert of Paran.

KJV 1900King James Version

And 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. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And 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. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

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