The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses behind his back because of his Cushite wife (he had married a Cushite woman).
1
While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.
2 They said, "Is it only through Moses that God speaks? Doesn't he also speak through us?" God overheard their talk.
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They said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the LORD heard them.
3 Now the man Moses was a quietly humble man, more so than anyone living on Earth.
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(Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.)
4 God broke in suddenly on Moses and Aaron and Miriam saying, "Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting." The three went out.
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So immediately the LORD called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and said, “Go out to the Tabernacle, all three of you!” So the three of them went to the Tabernacle.
5 God descended in a Pillar of Cloud and stood at the entrance to the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam to him. When they stepped out,
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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.
6 he said, Listen carefully to what I'm telling you. If there is a prophet of God among you, I make myself known to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams.
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And the LORD said to them, “Now listen to what I say: “If there were prophets among you, I, the LORD, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams.
7 But I don't do it that way with my servant Moses; he has the run of my entire house;
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But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust.
8 I speak to him intimately, in person, in plain talk without riddles: He ponders the very form of God. So why did you show no reverence or respect in speaking against my servant, against Moses?
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I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles! He sees the LORD as he is. So why were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”
9 The anger of God blazed out against them. And then he left.
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The LORD was very angry with them, and he departed.
10 When the Cloud moved off from the Tent, oh! Miriam had turned leprous, her skin like snow. Aaron took one look at Miriam - a leper!
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As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her,
11 He said to Moses, "Please, my master, please don't come down so hard on us for this foolish and thoughtless sin.
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he cried out to Moses, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed.
12 Please don't make her like a stillborn baby coming out of its mother's womb with half its body decomposed."
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Don’t let her be like a stillborn baby, already decayed at birth.”
13 And Moses prayed to God: Please, God, heal her, please heal her.
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So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, I beg you, please heal her!”
14 God answered Moses, "If her father had spat in her face, wouldn't she be ostracized for seven days? Quarantine her outside the camp for seven days. Then she can be readmitted to the camp."
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But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had done nothing more than spit in her face, wouldn’t she be defiled for seven days? So keep her outside the camp for seven days, and after that she may be accepted back.”
15 So Miriam was in quarantine outside the camp for seven days. The people didn't march on until she was readmitted.
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So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again.
16 Only then did the people march from Hazeroth and set up camp in the Wilderness of Paran.
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Then they left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.