Numbers 12

English TL (The Living Bible) (1971)

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1One day Miriam and Aaron were criticizing Moses because his wife was a Cushite woman,

2and they said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he spoken through us, too?“ But the Lord heard them.

3Immediately he summoned Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to the Tabernacle: “Come here, you three,“ he commanded.

4So they stood before the Lord. (Now Moses was the humblest man on earth.)

5Then the Lord descended in the Cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam, step forward,“ he commanded; and they did.

6And the Lord said to them, “Even with a prophet, I would communicate by visions and dreams;

7but that is not how I communicate with my servant Moses. He is completely at home in my house!

8With him I speak face to face! And he shall see the very form of God! Why then were you not afraid to criticize him?“

9Then the anger of the Lord grew hot against them, and he departed.

10As the Cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, Miriam suddenly became white with leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened,

11he cried out to Moses, “Oh, sir, do not punish us for this sin; we were fools to do such a thing.

12Don't let her be as one dead, whose body is half rotted away at birth.“

13And Moses cried out to the Lord, “Heal her, O God, I beg you!“

14And the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face she would be defiled seven days. Let her be banished from the camp for seven days, and after that she can come back again.“

15So Miriam was excluded from the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back in before they traveled again.

16Afterwards they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

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