18:1 When Jethro the priest of Midian, Moses's father-in-law,
heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his
people, [and] that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt:
18:2 Then Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, took Zipporah Moses's
wife, after he had sent her back,
18:3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one [was]
Gershom; (for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:)
18:4 And the name of the other [was] Eliezer; (for the God of my
father, [said he], [was] my help, and delivered me from the
sword of Pharaoh:)
18:5 And Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, came with his sons and
his wife to Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the
mount of God:
18:6 And he said to Moses, I thy father-in-law Jethro have come
to thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.
18:7 And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did
obeisance, and kissed him: and they asked each other of [their]
welfare: and they came into the tent.
18:8 And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done
to Pharaoh, and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, [and] all
the travail that had come upon them by the way, and [how] the
LORD delivered them.
18:9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had
done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the
Egyptians.
18:10 And Jethro said, Blessed [be] the LORD, who hath delivered
you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of
Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of
the Egyptians.
18:11 Now I know that the LORD [is] greater than all gods: for
in the thing in which they dealt proudly, [he was] above them.
18:12 And Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, took a burnt-offering
and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of
Israel to eat bread with Moses's father-in-law before God.
18:13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge
the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning to
the evening.
18:14 And when Moses's father-in-law saw all that he did to the
people, he said, What [is] this thing that thou doest to the
people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people
stand by thee from morning to evening?
18:15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people
come to me to inquire of God:
18:16 When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge
between one and another, and I make [them] know the statutes of
God, and his laws.
18:17 And Moses's father-in-law said to him, The thing that thou
doest [is] not good.
18:18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people
that [is] with thee: for this thing [is] too heavy for thee;
thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
18:19 Hearken now to my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God
shall be with thee: Be thou for the people toward God, that
thou mayest bring the causes to God:
18:20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt
show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that
they must do.
18:21 Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able
men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and
place [such] over them [to be] rulers of thousands, [and]
rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
18:22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall
be, [that] every great matter they shall bring to thee, but
every small matter they shall judge: So shall it be easier for
thyself, and they shall bear [the burden] with thee.
18:23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee [so],
then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall
also go to their place in peace.
18:24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and
did all that he had said.
18:25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them
heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds,
rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
18:26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes
they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged
themselves.
18:27 And Moses let his father-in-law depart; and he went his
way into his own land.
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