Miriam and Aaron Rebel

12 Miriam^(A) and Aaron criticised Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman). ² They said, ‘Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does he not also speak through us? ’ And the Lord heard it. ³ Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.

⁴ Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, ‘You three come out to the tent of meeting.’ So the three of them went out. ⁵ Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud,^(B) stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, ⁶ he said:

So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? ’ ⁹ The Lord’s anger burned against them,^(G) and he left.

¹⁰ As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow.^[c] When Aaron turned towards her, he saw that she was diseased ¹¹ and said to Moses, ‘My lord, please don’t hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. ¹² Please don’t let her be like a dead baby^[d] whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.’

¹³ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘God, please heal her! ’^(H)

¹⁴ The Lord answered Moses, ‘If her father had merely spat in her face, wouldn’t she remain in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp^(I) for seven days;^(J) after that she may be brought back in.’ ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought back in.^{(K) 16} After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.