CHAPTER 12
1 And Marie spake and Aaron against Moses, for his wife (was) a woman of Ethiopia, (And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, for his wife was an Ethiopian woman,)
2 and they said, Whether God spake his will only by Moses? whether he spake not also to us in like manner? And when the Lord had heard this, he was wroth greatly (or he was greatly angered);
3 for Moses was the mildest man, over all men that dwelled in earth. (for Moses was the humblest man, more humble than any other man who lived upon the face of the earth.)
4 And suddenly the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron and to Marie, (and said), Go out ye three alone to the tabernacle of the bond of peace. And when they were gone in, (And suddenly the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, and said, Ye three go out alone to the Tabernacle of the Covenant. And when they had gone out to it,)
5 the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and he stood in the entering of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Marie. And when they had gone forth, (the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and he stood at the entrance to the Tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And when they had come forth,)
6 he said to them, Hear ye my words; if any among you is a prophet of the Lord, I shall appear to him in revelation, either I shall speak to him by a dream.
7 And he said, And my servant Moses is not such, the which is most faithful in all mine house; (Then he said, But my servant Moses is not such a prophet, for he alone is most faithful in all my household;)
8 for I speak to him mouth to mouth, and he seeth God openly, and not by dark speeches, either dark likenesses, and figures. Why therefore dreaded ye not to backbite my servant Moses? (and I speak with him face to face, and he seeth God openly, and not only through riddles. Yea, he hath even seen my form, or my figure! So why do ye not fear to backbite my servant Moses?)
9 And the Lord was wroth against them, and he went away.
10 And the cloud went away, that was on the tabernacle, and lo! Marie appeared shining with leprosy, (or and behold! Miriam had become leprous), white as snow. And when Aaron beheld her, and saw her besprinkled with leprosy,
11 he said to Moses, My lord, I beseech thee, put thou not this sin upon us, which we did follily (or for we acted foolishly),
12 (and) that this woman be not made as dead, and as a dead born thing that is cast out of the mother’s womb; lo! now the half of her flesh is devoured, or over-covered, with leprosy, (or behold! now half of her flesh hath been devoured by the leprosy!).
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech thee, heal thou her.
14 To whom the Lord answered, If her father had spit into her face, whether she ought not to be full-filled with shame, namely seven days? Therefore be she separated out of the tents by seven days, and afterward she shall be called again, (or And so let her be set apart from the tents for seven days, and then she shall be called back again).
15 And so Marie was excluded, or put, out of the tents by seven days; and the people was not moved from that place, till Marie was called again. (And so Miriam was sent away from the tents for seven days; and the people did not move from that place, until Miriam was called back again.)
16 And the people went forth from Hazeroth, when the tents were set in the desert of Paran. (And then the people went forth from Hazeroth, and pitched their tents in the wilderness of Paran.)