Numbers 12

2 They said, "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he spoken through us, too?" But the LORD heard them.

3 Now Moses was more humble than any other person on earth.

4 So immediately the LORD called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, "Go out to the Tabernacle,* all three of you!" And the three of them went out.¹

5 Then the LORD descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle.* "Aaron and Miriam!" he called, and they stepped forward.²

6 And the LORD said to them, "Now listen to me! Even with prophets, I the LORD communicate by visions and dreams.

7 But that is not how I communicate with my servant Moses. He is entrusted with my entire house.

8 I speak to him face to face, directly and not in riddles! He sees the LORD as he is. Should you not be afraid to criticize him?"

9 The LORD was furious with them, and he departed.

10 As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, Miriam suddenly became white as snow with leprosy.* When Aaron saw what had happened,³

11 he cried out to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please don't punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed.

12 Don't let her be like a stillborn baby, already decayed at birth."

13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, "Heal her, O God, I beg you!"

14 And the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, wouldn't she have been defiled for seven days? Banish her from the camp for seven days, and after that she may return."

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

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

Read Numbers 13

1: Hebrew Tent of Meeting.

2: Hebrew the tent; also in 12:10.

3: Or with a contagious skin disease. The Hebrew word used here can describe various skin diseases.

^{New Living Translation Bible and Notes used with permission Tyndale House Publishers.}