Mirjam gør oprør mod Moses
1En dag gjorde Mirjam og Aron oprør imod Moses, fordi han havde taget sig en kone fra det land, der hed Kush,12,1 Landet Kush oversættes undertiden med Etiopien, men det henviser til den nordlige del af det nuværende Sudan, også kaldet Nubien. syd for Egypten. 2„Kan Herren kun tale til Moses?” sagde de. „Hvad med os? Herren kan vel lige så godt tale til os.” Herren hørte det, 3men Moses prøvede ikke at forsvare sig, for han var jordens mest ydmyge menneske. 4Herren talte nu til både Moses, Aron og Mirjam og sagde: „Gå alle tre hen til åbenbaringsteltet!” Da stillede de sig foran teltet.
5Derpå steg Herren ned, skjult i en sky, og stillede sig ved indgangen til teltet. „Aron og Mirjam, træd frem,” beordrede han. Det gjorde de så. 6Herren fortsatte: „Når jeg taler til en profet, gør jeg det normalt gennem syner og drømme, 7men det er ikke på den måde, jeg kommunikerer med min tjener Moses. Han er en trofast leder for mit folk.12,7 Eller: „Han er den mest trofaste i hele mit folk.” 8Med ham taler jeg ansigt til ansigt og ikke i gåder. Han har set mig, som jeg er. Hvor vover I så at gøre oprør imod ham?”
9Så forlod Herren dem i vrede, 10og da skyen løftede sig fra teltet, var Mirjam fyldt med hvide pletter over hele kroppen. Aron var rystet over synet af det 11og udbrød: „Åh Moses, gå i forbøn for os, så vi ikke mister livet på grund af denne tåbelige synd. 12Mirjam ligner jo et dødfødt barn, der allerede er begyndt at gå i forrådnelse.”
13Da råbte Moses til Herren: „Herre, jeg beder dig: Gør hende rask.”
14Herren svarede: „Hvis hendes egen far havde spyttet hende i ansigtet, var hun blevet uren og måtte bære sin skam i syv dage. Send hende derfor uden for lejren. Efter syv dage kan hun vende tilbage igen.”
15Så blev Mirjam udstødt af lejren i syv dage, og folket måtte vente på hende, før de kunne rejse videre. 16Derefter forlod de Hatzerot og nåede frem til Parans ørken, hvor de slog lejr og blev et stykke tid.
Miriam and Aaron oppose Moses
1Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?’ they asked. ‘Hasn’t he also spoken through us?’ And the Lord heard this.
3(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.’ So the three of them went out. 5Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6he said, ‘Listen to my words:
‘When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?’
9The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
10When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous12:10 The Hebrew for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin. – it became as white as snow. Aaron turned towards her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11and he said to Moses, ‘Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.’
13So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, God, heal her!’
14The Lord replied to Moses, ‘If her father had spat in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.’ 15So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
16After that, the people left Hazeroth and camped in the Desert of Paran.
