http://gospeltranslations.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Miriam_and_Moses 2026-04-22T22:53:26Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.16alpha http://gospeltranslations.org/w/index.php?title=Miriam_and_Moses&diff=14493&oldid=prev 2008-10-13T13:18:48Z

<p>New page: {{info}}&quot;My God, Moses, the girl is black!&quot;&lt;br&gt;The end of Miriam&#39;s attack&lt;br&gt;Made Moses wince and set his jaw&lt;br&gt;Like stone to guard his tongue with law,&lt;br&gt;And hold his peace, if somehow ...</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{info}}&quot;My God, Moses, the girl is black!&quot;&lt;br&gt;The end of Miriam's attack&lt;br&gt;Made Moses wince and set his jaw&lt;br&gt;Like stone to guard his tongue with law,&lt;br&gt;And hold his peace, if somehow love&lt;br&gt;Might be reborn. There was more dove&lt;br&gt;In Moses than the hawk. Her words,&lt;br&gt;Like wolves upon the hapless herds&lt;br&gt;Of Midian, had almost ripped&lt;br&gt;The meekness from his heart and stripped&lt;br&gt;Him of the deep respect he'd known&lt;br&gt;For Miriam. Almost a stone&lt;br&gt;Now, Moses watched his sister's face,&lt;br&gt;And feared, lest pedigree and race&lt;br&gt;Had eaten, like a leprosy&lt;br&gt;Of pride, the root of sympathy,&lt;br&gt;And killed the power to confess,&lt;br&gt;And serve as Israel's prophetess.&amp;nbsp;<br /> <br /> Two years Zipporah had been dead.&lt;br&gt;And though she was not born or bred&lt;br&gt;A Hebrew lass, she looked like one.&lt;br&gt;Perhaps too swarthy in the sun&lt;br&gt;Some said. But few denied that she&lt;br&gt;Was strong and helped her husband be&lt;br&gt;The greatest man in Israel.&lt;br&gt;None doubted Moses loved her well.&lt;br&gt;Now she was gone, and in her place&lt;br&gt;The great man Moses turned his face&lt;br&gt;To love a Cushite slave. He shocked&lt;br&gt;All Israel. And while some mocked,&lt;br&gt;He married her and made her free,&lt;br&gt;And said, &quot;She will be wife to me.&lt;br&gt;Zipporah came from Midian,&lt;br&gt;The Cushite from the Land of Sun.&lt;br&gt;God made them love himself, then me;&lt;br&gt;There is here no idolatry.&quot; <br /> <br /> But Miriam seemed singed with hell:&lt;br&gt;&quot;Are there no maids in Israel!&lt;br&gt;And is our own tribe so unfit&lt;br&gt;That you should turn your face and spit&lt;br&gt;On all the widows in the land&lt;br&gt;And offer up your noble hand&lt;br&gt;To foreigners? Has not the clan&lt;br&gt;Of Levi any wives a man&lt;br&gt;Like you could love or tolerate?&lt;br&gt;Or, Moses, do you really hate&lt;br&gt;Your own, to raid a Cushite shack?&lt;br&gt;My God, Moses, the girl is black!&quot; <br /> <br /> The thought flashed over Moses' mind:&lt;br&gt;This is not Miriam, the kind,&lt;br&gt;And gentle prophetess. Oh, she&lt;br&gt;Was strong, but animosity&lt;br&gt;Was not the way her strength would show. <br /> <br /> And then she gave another blow,&lt;br&gt;And stunned her brother once again:&lt;br&gt;&quot;Do you think you're the only man&lt;br&gt;Who hears the Lord in Israel?&lt;br&gt;When God has plans does he not tell&lt;br&gt;To me as well, and Aaron too,&lt;br&gt;What he designs and plans to do?&quot; <br /> <br /> The knuckles of his hand turned white&lt;br&gt;Around his rod, and all the might&lt;br&gt;Of Moses' meekness ruled his heart,&lt;br&gt;Until the silence broke apart&lt;br&gt;With heaven's voice: &quot;Come out you three&lt;br&gt;Before the tent. Confer with me,&lt;br&gt;And we will have a reckoning.&quot;&lt;br&gt;And as they came before the King,&lt;br&gt;The Lord descended in a cloud,&lt;br&gt;And stood with glory for a shroud,&lt;br&gt;And said to Miriam, &quot;Stand forth&lt;br&gt;With Aaron now and hear the worth&lt;br&gt;Of murmuring against the friend&lt;br&gt;Of God. There is a sudden end&lt;br&gt;For pride in priest and prophet both.&lt;br&gt;Beware, for I am God, and loath&lt;br&gt;To let my friend be vilified&lt;br&gt;For long. Do you not know I hide&lt;br&gt;My plans from prophets in a dream:&lt;br&gt;They are not always what they seem.&lt;br&gt;Not so with Moses, Miriam,&lt;br&gt;All of the words I speak to him&lt;br&gt;Are mouth to mouth and clear as day,&lt;br&gt;And he knows everything I say.&lt;br&gt;Why were you not afraid to mock&lt;br&gt;The faithful shepherd of my flock?&quot; <br /> <br /> And suddenly the cloud was gone,&lt;br&gt;And Aaron looked, and saw upon&lt;br&gt;The skin of Miriam, as white&lt;br&gt;As melting snow, the dreaded sight&lt;br&gt;Of leprosy. And Aaron turned,&lt;br&gt;&quot;Have mercy Moses, we have learned&lt;br&gt;Our lesson well. Let her not be&lt;br&gt;Among the living dead. For we&lt;br&gt;Are old, and do not always say&lt;br&gt;What we approve. Now, brother, pray&lt;br&gt;For her.&quot; <br /> <br /> Before the words were out&lt;br&gt;Of Aaron's mouth there was no doubt&lt;br&gt;What Moses meant to do. He knelt&lt;br&gt;Beside the rotting flesh and felt&lt;br&gt;A wave of pity break behind&lt;br&gt;His eyes and flood his face with tears,&lt;br&gt;And heave his chest for all the years&lt;br&gt;That he had known his sister's joy,&lt;br&gt;Since he was just a little boy.&lt;br&gt;She pressed her forehead into him,&lt;br&gt;And heard him say, &quot;I love you Mim.&lt;br&gt;It's only right, you know, that I&lt;br&gt;Should hold you near me now and try&lt;br&gt;To save your life the way you saved&lt;br&gt;Me more than once, because you braved&lt;br&gt;The river glades and made the ark&lt;br&gt;To carry me with pitch and bark&lt;br&gt;Above the flood of Pharaoh's wrath.&lt;br&gt;And many times along the path&lt;br&gt;For eighty years now you have raised&lt;br&gt;Me up with songs, and I have praised&lt;br&gt;The Lord for your prophetic gift.&lt;br&gt;Forbid that there should be a rift&lt;br&gt;Between us in the evening of&lt;br&gt;Our lives; I feel the same deep love&lt;br&gt;For you today I felt beside the sea&lt;br&gt;When you sang out the victory&lt;br&gt;Of God, and led the massive choir:&lt;br&gt;Ten thousand women full of fire!&lt;br&gt;Oh, Miriam! Has not our God&lt;br&gt;Been good to us! You see this rod?&lt;br&gt;It's been a snake, and eaten three!&lt;br&gt;It's beckoned frogs and split the sea.&lt;br&gt;Now, Miriam, I'm going to pray.&quot; <br /> <br /> &quot;There's something first I'd like to say,&lt;br&gt;I'm sorry, Moses. What I said&lt;br&gt;About your wife was wrong. Your bed&lt;br&gt;Is pure. Of all the women I&lt;br&gt;Have taught in Israel, they fly&lt;br&gt;Beneath the heights of faith and love&lt;br&gt;Where she's at home just like a dove&lt;br&gt;On wind. And it is no surprise&lt;br&gt;That you should choose not Hebrew eyes&lt;br&gt;Or Hebrew skin, but one who loves&lt;br&gt;Your God and soars on wind with doves.&lt;br&gt;It was an ugly thing to say,&lt;br&gt;Perhaps the leprosy should stay.&quot; <br /> <br /> &quot;I think not, Miriam! Let's pray:&lt;br&gt;O God, I simply ask today&lt;br&gt;That you would heal my sister's life;&lt;br&gt;Remove the remnants of our strife.&lt;br&gt;Create a bond between my wife&lt;br&gt;And Miriam, and let no knife&lt;br&gt;From earth or hell divide with pride,&lt;br&gt;Or shame.&quot; <br /> <br /> And so the Lord replied,&lt;br&gt;&quot;I give you what your love has seen:&lt;br&gt;In seven days she will be clean.&quot; <br /> <br /> Today let fire from candle three&lt;br&gt;Consume all family enmity.&lt;br&gt;Let all repent and all forgive.&lt;br&gt;Let Miriam and Moses live.&lt;br&gt;And as we sing the birth of Christ,&lt;br&gt;Think well why He was sacrificed.</div>

Greetje