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Numbers 12:4–9

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;i 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, revealj myself to them in visions,k

I speak to them in dreams.l

But this is not true of my servant Moses;m

he is faithful in all my house.n

With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles;o

he sees the form of the Lord.p

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?”q

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

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Numbers 12:4–9 — English Standard Version (ESV)

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.

Numbers 12:4–9 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

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.

Numbers 12:4–9 — New Living Translation (NLT)

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.

Numbers 12:4–9 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out. Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. Then He said,

“Hear now My words:

If there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;

I speak to him in a dream.

Not so with My servant Moses;

He is faithful in all My house.

I speak with him face to face,

Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;

And he sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

To speak against My servant Moses?”

So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed.

Numbers 12:4–9 — New Century Version (NCV)

So the Lord suddenly spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, “All three of you come to the Meeting Tent.” So they went. The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance to the Tent. He called to Aaron and Miriam, and they both came near. He said, “Listen to my words:

When prophets are among you,

I, the Lord, will show myself to them in visions;

I will speak to them in dreams.

But this is not true with my servant Moses.

I trust him to lead all my people.

I speak face to face with him—

clearly, not with hidden meanings.

He has even seen the form of the Lord.

You should be afraid

to speak against my servant Moses.”

The Lord was very angry with them, and he left.

Numbers 12:4–9 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And Jehovah spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting. And they three came out. And Jehovah came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, 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 Jehovah will make myself known unto him in a vision, I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house: with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Jehovah shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?

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

Numbers 12:4–9 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

Then Jehovah spoke suddenly to Moses, and to Aaron, and to Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting. And they went out, they three. And Jehovah came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tent, 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 Jehovah will make myself known to him in a vision, I will speak to him in a dream. Not so my servant Moses: he is faithful in all my house. Mouth to mouth do I speak to him openly, and not in riddles; and the form of Jehovah doth he behold. Why then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses? And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against them, and he went away;

Numbers 12:4–9 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “All three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So all three of them came. Then 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. 

He 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. But this is not the way I treat my servant Moses. He is the most faithful person in my household.I 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?” 

The Lord was angry with them, so he left. 

Numbers 12:4–9 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

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.

Numbers 12:4–9 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out. Then 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:

When there are prophets among you,

I the Lord make myself known to them in visions;

I speak to them in dreams.

Not so with my servant Moses;

he is entrusted with all my house.

With him I speak face to face—clearly, 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.

Numbers 12:4–9 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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.

Numbers 12:4–9 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The Lord spoke to Moses, Aaron and Miriam. He said, “All three of you, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So they did. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud. He stood at the entrance to the tent. And he told Aaron and Miriam to come to him. Both of them stepped forward.

Then the Lord said, “Listen to my words.

“Suppose one of my prophets is among you.

I make myself known to him in visions.

I speak to him in dreams.

But that is not true of my servant Moses.

He is faithful in everything he does in my house.

With Moses I speak face to face.

I speak with him clearly. I do not speak in riddles.

I let him see something of what I look like.

So why were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?”

The anger of the Lord burned against them. And he left them.

Numbers 12:4–9 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, “You three come out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them came out.

Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward,

He said,

Hear now My words:

If there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision.

I shall speak with him in a dream.

“Not so, with My servant Moses,

He is faithful in all My household;

With him I speak mouth to mouth,

Even openly, and not in dark sayings,

And he beholds the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

To speak against My servant, against Moses?”

So the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed.


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