⁹ As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses.

⁵ Then the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[a] “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward.

⁵ “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

²¹ Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. ²² And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

² For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire^[a] house.

³ Now testify against me in the presence of the Lord and before his anointed one. Whose ox or donkey have I stolen? Have I ever cheated any of you? Have I ever oppressed you? Have I ever taken a bribe and perverted justice? Tell me and I will make right whatever I have done wrong.”

⁴ “No,” they replied, “you have never cheated or oppressed us, and you have never taken even a single bribe.”

⁵ “The Lord and his anointed one are my witnesses today,” Samuel declared, “that my hands are clean.”

“Yes, he is a witness,” they replied.