Numbers 12

₁Moses married a woman from the land of Cush. His sister, Miriam, and his brother, Aaron, were unhappy about it and they came to Moses and talked to him about it. ₂They said: ‘Moses, the Lord did not talk only to you. He also talked to us.’

The Lord heard what they said. ₃Moses was a very humble man, more humble than all the other people on earth. ₄But the Lord immediately said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam: ‘The 3 of you must go to the tent where I appear to the Israelites.’

They went there ₅and then the Lord came down in a cloud that looked like a pillar and He went to the entrance of the tent and stood there. Then He called Aaron and Miriam and they came to Him. ₆The Lord said: ‘Listen carefully to what I say. When I, the Lord, send a prophet to come to you, then I will show him who I am. I will talk to him while he sleeps and dreams. ₇But my servant Moses is not a prophet like that. I chose him and I anointed him to be the leader over all the people who belong to Me. ₈I come to him and I talk to him, and I tell him everything that I want to say. He can see Me when I come to him. Why do you talk like this against my servant Moses? Why don't you respect him? You may not speak to him like that.’

₉The Lord was angry with Aaron and Miriam and He went away. ₁₀But when the cloud went away from the tent, Miriam became leprous, and her skin was white as snow. When Aaron turned and looked at her, he saw that she was leprous. ₁₁Aaron said to Moses: ‘Please, sir, don't punish us for the sin that we have done. We were foolish. ₁₂Please don't cause Miriam to die or be like a baby that is born dead or who has only half a body.’

₁₃Moses then prayed to the Lord and he said: ‘O God, please heal her.’ ₁₄The Lord said to Moses: ‘If her father had spat in her face, then she would have had 7 days to think about why he had humiliated her. Now she must stay outside the camp for 7 days, and then she can come back.’

₁₅They told Miriam to stay outside the camp for 7 days. The people did not go away from that place until she came back. ₁₆Then the people went away from the town of Hazeroth and put up their tents in the Paran Desert.