Exodus 18:1–12

Jethro Visits Moses

18Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and the people of Israel when he led them out of Egypt. ^2*So he came to Moses, bringing with him Moses’ wife Zipporah, who had been left behind, ^3*and Gershom and Eliezer, her two sons. (Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a strange land”; so he had named one son Gershom.^{s 4}He had also said, “The God of my father helped me and saved me from being killed by the king of Egypt”; so he had named the other son Eliezer.)^{t 5}Jethro came with Moses’ wife and her two sons into the desert where Moses was camped at the holy mountain. ⁶He had sent word to Moses that they were coming, ⁷so Moses went out to meet him, bowed before him, and kissed him. They asked about each other’s health and then went into Moses’ tent. ⁸Moses told Jethro everything that the Lord had done to the king and the people of Egypt in order to rescue the Israelites. He also told him about the hardships the people had faced on the way and how the Lord had saved them. ⁹When Jethro heard all this, he was happy ¹⁰and said, “Praise the Lord, who saved you from the king and the people of Egypt! Praise the Lord, who saved his people from slavery! ¹¹Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, because he did this when the Egyptians treated the Israelites with such contempt.” ¹²Then Jethro brought an offering to be burnt whole and other sacrifices to be offered to God; and Aaron and all the leaders of Israel went with him to eat the sacred meal as an act of worship.