Exodus 18

Jethro’s Advice

18And ^aJethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that ^bGod had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ²Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took ^cZipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, ³with her ^dtwo sons, of whom the name of one was ¹Gershom (for he said, ^e“I have been a ²stranger in a foreign land”) ⁴and the name of the other was ³Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my ^fhelp, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”); ⁵and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at ^gthe mountain of God. ⁶Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”

⁷So Moses ^hwent out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and ⁱkissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. ⁸And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had ^jdelivered them. ⁹Then Jethro rejoiced for all the ^kgood which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰And Jethro said, ^l“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹Now I know that the Lord is ^mgreater than all the gods; ⁿfor in the very thing in which they ⁴behaved ^oproudly, He was above them.” ¹²Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, ⁵took a burnt ^poffering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel ^qto eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

¹³And so it was, on the next day, that Moses ^rsat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. ¹⁴So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone ⁶sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”

¹⁵And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because ^sthe people come to me to inquire of God. ¹⁶When they have ^ta ⁷difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

¹⁷So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. ¹⁸Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; ^uyou are not able to perform it by yourself. ¹⁹Listen now to my voice; I will give you ⁸counsel, and God will be with you: Stand ^vbefore God for the people, so that you may ^wbring the difficulties to God. ²⁰And you shall ^xteach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and ^ythe work they must do. ²¹Moreover you shall select from all the people ^zable men, such as ^afear God, ^bmen of truth, ^chating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²²And let them judge the people at all times. ^dThen it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for ^ethey will bear the burden with you. ²³If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their ^fplace in peace.”

²⁴So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵And ^gMoses 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. ²⁶So they judged the people at all times; the ^hhard ⁹cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

²⁷Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and ⁱhe went his way to his own land.