The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron
“Now hear My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, will make Myself known to him in a vision.
I will speak with him in a dream.
7 It is not this way for My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My household;
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth,
That is, openly, and not [a]using [b]mysterious language,
And he beholds the form of the Lord.
So why were you not afraid
To speak against My servant, against Moses?”
9 And the anger of the Lord burned against them and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. 11 Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not [c]hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned. 12 Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” 13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “God, heal her, please!” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit in her face, would she not be put to shame for seven days? Have her shut outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” 15 So Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.
16 Afterward, however, the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Footnotes
- Numbers 12:8 Lit in
- Numbers 12:8 Lit riddles
- Numbers 12:11 Lit place the sin on us