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.
米利暗受罰
1米利暗和亞倫因摩西娶了一個古實的女子而批評他，說： 2「難道耶和華只藉著摩西說話嗎？祂不也藉著我們說話嗎？」耶和華聽見了這話。 3其實摩西為人十分謙和，比世上任何人都謙和。 4耶和華立刻對摩西、亞倫和米利暗說：「你們三人都到會幕去。」他們就去了。 5耶和華在雲柱中降臨，站在會幕門口呼喚亞倫和米利暗，二人就走到前面。 6耶和華說：「你們聽我說，你們中間若有先知，我耶和華必在異象中向他顯現，在夢中跟他說話。 7但我不是這樣對待我的僕人摩西，他是我子民中最忠心的人， 8我跟他面對面說話，清清楚楚，不用謎語，他看得見我的形像。你們怎敢批評我的僕人摩西？」 9耶和華向他們發怒，然後離去。 10雲彩從會幕上離開的時候，米利暗身上患了痲瘋病，像雪一樣白。亞倫見狀， 11便對摩西說：「我主啊，求你不要因我們愚昧犯罪而懲罰我們。 12求你不要讓她像那一出母腹便半身腐爛的死胎。」 13於是，摩西呼求耶和華：「上帝啊，求你醫治她！」 14耶和華對摩西說：「如果她父親在她臉上吐唾沫，她豈不也要蒙羞七天嗎？現在把她關在營外，七天後再讓她回來。」 15於是，米利暗被關在營外七天，民眾等她回營後才繼續前行。 16他們離開哈洗錄，到巴蘭曠野安營。
