Exodus 18:13–26

¹³The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. ¹⁴When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

¹⁵Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.^{f 16}Whenever they have a dispute,^g it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”^h

¹⁷Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.^{i 19}Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you.^j You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes^k to him. ²⁰Teach them his decrees and instructions,^l and show them the way they are to live^m and how they are to behave.^{n 21}But select capable men^o from all the people—men who fear^p God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain^q—and appoint them as officials^r over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²²Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case^s to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share^t it with you. ²³If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

²⁴Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders^u of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.^{v 26}They served as judges^w for the people at all times. The difficult cases^x they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.^y