Bible / Numbers
Numbers 12
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife the Ethiopian,
2 And they said: Hath the Lord spoken by Moses only? Hath he not also spoken to us in like manner? And when the Lord heard this,
3 (For Moses was a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon earth)
4 Immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and Mary: Come out you three only to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when they were come out,
5 The Lord came down in a pillar of the cloud, and stood in the entry of the tabernacle calling to Aaron and Mary. And when they were come,
6 He said to them: Hear my words: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream.
7 But it is not so with my servant Moses who is most faithful in all my house:
8 For I speak to him mouth to mouth: and plainly, and not by riddles and figures doth he see the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak ill of my servant Moses?
9 And being angry with them he went away:
10 The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed: and behold Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy. And when Aaron had looked on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy,
11 He said to Moses: I beseech thee, my lord, lay not upon us this sin, which we have foolishly committed:
12 Let her not be as one dead, and as an abortive that is cast forth from the mother’s womb. Lo, now one half of her flesh is consumed with the leprosy.
13 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying O God, I beseech thee heal her.
14 And the Lord answered him: If her father had spitten upon her face, ought she not to have been ashamed for seven days at least? Let her be separated seven days without the camp, and afterwards she shall be called again.
15 Mary therefore was put out of the camp seven days: and the people moved not from that place until Mary was called again.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers, so these are listed by chapter.
- Numbers 12:3 in modern BiblesCCC 2576
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2576 “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Moses' prayer is characteristic…”
- Numbers 12:7 in modern BiblesCCC 2576
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2576 “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Moses' prayer is characteristic…”
“… righteous man, and blameless, truthful, God-fearing, and one that kept himself from all evil." But bringing an accusation against himself, he said, "No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but of one day." Moses was called faithful in all God's house;”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter XVII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“And what wonder is it if those in Christ who were entrusted with such a duty by God, appointed those [ministers] before mentioned, when the blessed Moses also, "a faithful servant in all his house,”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter XLIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Numbers 12:8 in modern BiblesCCC 2576
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2576 “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Moses' prayer is characteristic…”
“And the Word spake to Moses, appearing before him, "just as any one might speak to his friend.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XX. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Numbers 12:13 in modern BiblesCCC 2577
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2577 “From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, Moses drew strength and determination for his…”
- Numbers 12:14 in modern BiblesCCC 2577
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2577 “From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, Moses drew strength and determination for his…”
“wilt thou kill me, as thou didst kill the Egyptian yesterday?" On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their abode without the camp.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter IV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Numbers 12:15 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“wilt thou kill me, as thou didst kill the Egyptian yesterday?" On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their abode without the camp.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter IV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.