Exodus
18
- Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law
of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel,
and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.
- After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah,
his father-in-law Jethro received her
- and her two sons. One son was named Gershom,
for Moses said, "I have become an alien in a foreign land";
- and the other was named Eliezer, for he
said, "My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh."
- Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with
Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near
the mountain of God.
- Jethro had sent word to him, "I, your
father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."
- So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law
and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into
the tent.
- Moses told his father-in-law about everything
the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about
all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.
- Jethro was delighted to hear about all the
good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of
the Egyptians.
- He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who
rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued
the people from the hand of the Egyptians.
- Now I know that the LORD is greater than
all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."
- Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought
a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the
elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of
God.
- The next day Moses took his seat to serve
as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening.
- When 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 ?"
- Moses answered him, "Because the people
come to me to seek God's will.
- Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought
to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and
laws."
- Moses' father-in-law replied, "What
you are doing is not good.
- You and these people who come to you will
only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle
it alone.
- Listen now to me and I will give you some
advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before
God and bring their disputes to him.
- Teach them the decrees and laws, and show
them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.
- But select capable men from all the people
-- men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain -- and appoint
them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
- Have them serve as judges for the people
at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple
cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because
they will share it with you.
- If you do this and God so commands, you
will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."
- Moses listened to his father-in-law and
did everything he said.
- He chose capable men from all Israel and
made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties
and tens.
- They served as judges for the people at
all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones
they decided themselves.
- Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his
way, and Jethro returned to his own country.
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