Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses

1 Miriam and Aaron spoke improper words against Moses about the Cushite woman whom the Cushites had given Moses in marriage when he fled from Pharaoh, but he had kept apart from her. They had given him the queen of Cush as his wife, and he had abstained from relations with her.⁠a 2 They said, “Has the Lord spoken only with Moses, so that he should abstain from married life? Has He not spoken with us too?” And their words reached the Lord.

3 But Moses was more humble by nature than anyone else on earth, and he paid no attention to their words.

God defends Moses

4 The Lord said to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 5 The Glory of the Lord was revealed in the pillar of the Cloud of Glory, and He stood at the entrance of the tent. He called Aaron and Miriam, and the two of them came forward. 6 He said, “Please hear My words while I speak. Have any of the prophets who have arisen since ancient times been spoken with as Moses has? The Word of the Lord is revealed to them in a vision. I speak with them in a dream. 7 The way with My servant Moses is different. He is faithful throughout the house of Israel, My people. 8 I have spoken with him, speaker to speaker, telling him to abstain from married life. I revealed Myself to him in a vision at the bush, openly, and he saw the likeness of the back of My Shekinah. Why, then, were you not afraid to speak such words against My servant Moses?”

Miriam’s leprosy

9 The Glory of the Lord’s Shekinah rose from them and departed. 10 The Cloud of the Glory of the Lord’s Shekinah rose from above the tent. Suddenly Miriam was stricken with leprosy. And Aaron looked at Miriam and saw that she had been stricken with leprosy.

11 Aaron said to Moses, “Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have foolishly and wrongfully committed. 12 Please do not let our sister Miriam be unclean with leprosy in the tent like a corpse. For she is like an infant that has spent nine months in its mother’s womb. As the time comes for it to enter the world, half its flesh is consumed. While its mother sits on the birthstool, the infant dies, and the midwife brings it out in pieces. In the same way, our sister Miriam saw us in Egypt in our captivity, our displacement, and our slavery. But now that the time has come for us to go out and take possession of the land of Israel, she is held back from us. Please, my lord, pray for her now, so that her merit may not be lost from the congregation.”

13 Moses prayed and sought mercy from the Lord, saying, “I appeal to Your compassion, merciful God. God, who has power over the breath of all flesh, please heal her.”

14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had rebuked her to her face, would she not have been put to shame and shut out for seven days? But today, when I rebuke her, she should rightly be put to shame for fourteen days. Still, it is enough to shut her out for seven days outside the camp.⁠b For your merit I will keep the Cloud of My Glory, the tent, the ark, and all Israel waiting until she is healed. Then she may return.”

15 Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was healed.

Israel waits for Miriam

16 Although Miriam the prophetess had incurred the penalty of leprosy in this world, there is a great lesson about the reward in the world to come for the righteous and those who keep the commandments of the Law. Miriam the prophetess had watched for a short time to learn what would happen to Moses. For that merit all Israel, numbering 600,000, totaling eighty legions, and the Cloud of Glory, the tent, and the well, did not move or set out until Miriam the prophetess was healed. Afterward the people journeyed from Hazeroth and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.