^12:4The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went. ^12:5And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.

^12:6The Lord¹⁰ said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you,¹¹ I the Lord¹² will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. ^12:7My servant¹³ Moses is not like this; he is faithful¹⁴ in all my house. ^12:8With him I will speak face to face,¹⁵ openly,¹⁶ and not in riddles; and he will see the form¹⁷ of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” ^12:9The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he departed. ^12:10When¹⁸ the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became¹⁹ leprous²⁰ as snow. Then Aaron looked at²¹ Miriam, and she was leprous!

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Footnotes

10 Heb “he.”
11 The form of this construction is rare: נְבִיאֲכֶם (névi’akhem) would normally be rendered “your prophet.” The singular noun is suffixed with a plural pronominal suffix. Some commentators think the has condensed “a prophet” with “to you.”
12 The Hebrew syntax is difficult here. “The Lord” is separated from the verb by two intervening prepositional phrases. Some scholars conclude that this word belongs with the verb at the beginning of v. 6 (“And the Lord spoke”).
13 The title “my servant” or “servant of the Lord” is reserved in the Bible for distinguished personages, people who are truly spiritual leaders, like Moses, David, Hezekiah, and also the Messiah. Here it underscores Moses’ obedience.
14 The word “faithful” is נֶאֱמָן (ne’eman), the Niphal participle of the verb אָמַן (’aman). This basic word has the sense of “support, be firm.” In the Niphal it describes something that is firm, reliable, dependable—what can be counted on. It could actually be translated “trustworthy.”
15 The emphasis of the line is clear enough—it begins literally “mouth to mouth” I will speak with him. In human communication this would mean equality of rank, but Moses is certainly not equal in rank with the Lord. And yet God is here stating that Moses has an immediacy and directness with communication with God. It goes beyond the idea of friendship, almost to that of a king’s confidant.
16 The word מַרְאֶה (mar’eh) refers to what is seen, a vision, an appearance. Here it would have the idea of that which is clearly visible, open, obvious.
17 The word “form” (תְּמוּנָה, témunah) means “shape, image, form.” The Greek text took it metaphorically and rendered it “the glory of the Lord.” This line expresses even more the uniqueness of Moses. The elders saw God on one special occasion (Exod 24:10), and the people never (Deut 4:12, 15), but Moses has direct and familiar contact with God.
18 The disjunctive vav (ו) is here introducing a circumstantial clause of time.
19 There is no verb “became” in this line. The second half of the line is introduced with the particle הִנֵה (hinneh, “look, behold”) in its archaic sense. This deictic use is intended to make the reader focus on Miriam as well.
20 The word “leprosy” and “leprous” covers a wide variety of skin diseases, and need not be limited to the actual disease of leprosy known today as Hansen’s disease. The description of it here has to do with snow, either the whiteness or the wetness. If that is the case then there would be open wounds and sores—like Job’s illness (see M. Noth, Numbers [], 95–96).
21 Heb “turned to.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,

I speak to them in dreams.

But this is not true of my servant Moses;

he is faithful in all my house.

With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?”

The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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

I speak with him in a dream.

Not so with my servant Moses;

he is faithful in all my household.

I speak with him directly,

openly, and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.

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

As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow. When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased

NLTNew Living Translation

So immediately the Lord called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, “Go out to the Tabernacle, all three of you!” So the three of them went to the Tabernacle. Then the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward. And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say:

“If there were prophets among you,

I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions.

I would speak to them in dreams.

But not with my servant Moses.

Of all my house, he is the one I trust.

I speak to him face to face,

clearly, and not in riddles!

He sees the Lord as he is.

So why were you not afraid

to criticize my servant Moses?”

The Lord was very angry with them, and he departed. As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her,

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

and Yahweh said suddenly to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Go out, you three, to the tent of assembly.” So the three of them went out. And Yahweh went down in a column of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and he called Aaron and Miriam, and the two of them went, and he said,

“Please hear my words:

If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh,

will make myself known to him in a vision.

I will speak to him in a dream.

Not so with my servant Moses;

in all my house he is faithful.

I will speak to him mouth to mouth,

in clearness, not in riddles;

and he will look at the form of Yahweh.

Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”

And Yahweh became very angry with them, and he went away. And the cloud departed from on the tent, and behold, Miriam was infected with a skin disease white like snow; when Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was afflicted with a skin disease.

KJV 1900King James Version

And 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. And 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. And 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. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With 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? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. And 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.

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