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The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

¹ Now ^(F1)Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the ^(F2)Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a ^(C1)Cushite woman);^2 (C1)and they said, "Has the LORD really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?" And the LORD heard it.³ (^(F1)Now the man Moses was ^(C1)very humble (gentle, kind, devoid of self-righteousness), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)⁴ Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle)." And the three of them came out.^5 (C1)The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tabernacle, and He called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward.⁶ And He said,

"Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I the LORD will make Myself known to him in a ^(C1)vision
And I will speak to him in a ^(C2)dream.

⁷ "But it is not so with ^(C1)My servant Moses;
^(C2)He is entrusted and faithful in all My house. ^(VR1)

⁸ "^(C1)With him I speak mouth to mouth directly,
Clearly and openly and not in riddles;
And he beholds ^(C2)the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?"

⁹ And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Miriam and Aaron, and ^(C1)He departed.¹⁰ But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, ^(C1)Miriam was leprous, ^(C2)as white as snow. And Aaron turned and looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I plead with you, ^(C1)do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.¹² "Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother's womb."¹³ So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "^(C1)Heal her please, O God, I plead with You!"¹⁴ But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but ^(F1)(C1)spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up ^(C2)outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may return."¹⁵ So ^(C1)Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought in again and declared ceremonially clean from her leprosy.

¹⁶ Afterward the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.