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Miriam and Aaron Speak Against Moses

¹ Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken as a wife (for he had taken a ^(C1)Cushite woman);^2 (C1)and they said, "Has Yahweh indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" And Yahweh heard it.³ (Now the man Moses was ^(C1)very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)⁴ Suddenly Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." So the three of them came out.^5 (C1)Then Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called ^">(F1)Aaron and Miriam. And then both came forward,⁶ and He said,

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

⁷ "Not so, with ^(C1)My servant Moses,
^(C2)He is faithful in all My household;

^8 (C1)With him I speak mouth to mouth,
Indeed clearly, and not in riddles,
And he beholds ^(C2)the form of Yahweh.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant, against Moses?"

⁹ So the anger of Yahweh burned against them, and ^(C1)He went away.¹⁰ But the cloud withdrew from over the tent, and behold, ^(C1)Miriam was leprous, as ^(C2)white as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I beg you, ^(C1)do not place this sin on us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.¹² "Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother's womb!"¹³ And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "O God, ^(C1)heal her, I pray!"¹⁴ But Yahweh said to Moses, "If her father had but ^(C1)spit in her face, would she not bear her dishonor for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days ^(C2)outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again."¹⁵ So ^(C1)Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was received again.

¹⁶ Afterward, however, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.