Exodus 18

1And Jethro priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses, hears all that God has done for Moses and for His people Israel, that YHWH has brought out Israel from Egypt,

2and Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, takes Zipporah, wife of Moses, after her parting,

3and her two sons, of whom the name of one [is] Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a strange land”;

4and the name of the other [is] Eliezer, for, “The God of my father [is] for my help, and He delivers me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

5And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, comes, and his sons, and his wife, to Moses, to the wilderness where he is encamping—the mountain of God;

6and he says to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.”

7And Moses goes out to meet his father-in-law, and bows himself, and kisses him, and they ask of one another of welfare, and come into the tent;

8and Moses recounts to his father-in-law all that YHWH has done to Pharaoh, and to the Egyptians, on account of Israel, all the travail which has found them in the way, and [how] YHWH delivers them.

9And Jethro rejoices for all the good which YHWH has done to Israel, whom He has delivered from the hand of the Egyptians;

10and Jethro says, “Blessed [is] YHWH, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of Pharaoh—who has delivered this people from under the hand of the Egyptians;

11now I have known that YHWH [is] greater than all the gods, for in the thing they have acted proudly—[He is] above them!”

12And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, takes a burnt-offering and sacrifices [it] for God; and Aaron comes in, and all [the] elderly of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses, before God.

13And it comes to pass on the next day, that Moses sits to judge the people, and the people stand before Moses from the morning to the evening;

14and the father-in-law of Moses sees all that he is doing for the people and says, “What [is] this thing which you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting by yourself, and all the people standing by you from morning until evening?”

15And Moses says to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to seek God;

16when they have a matter, it has come to me, and I have judged between a man and his neighbor, and made known the statutes of God, and His laws.”

17And the father-in-law of Moses says to him, “The thing which you are doing [is] not good;

18you surely wear away, both you, and this people which [is] with you, for the thing is too heavy for you, you are not able to do it by yourself.

19Now listen to my voice, I counsel you, and God is with you: be for the people before God, and you have brought in the things to God;

20and you have warned them [concerning] the statutes and the laws, and have made known to them the way in which they go, and the work which they do.

21And you provide out of all the people men of ability, fearing God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and have placed [these] over them [for] heads of thousands, heads of hundreds, heads of fifties, and heads of tens,

22and they have judged the people at all times; and it has come to pass, they bring every great matter to you, and they judge every small matter themselves; and lighten it from off yourself, and they have borne with you.

23If you do this thing, and God has commanded you, then you have been able to stand, and all this people also goes to its place in peace.”

24And Moses listens to the voice of his father-in-law, and does all that he said,

25and Moses chooses men of ability out of all Israel, and makes them chiefs over the people [for] heads of thousands, heads of hundreds, heads of fifties, and heads of tens,

26and they have judged the people at all times; they bring the hard matter to Moses, and they judge every small matter themselves.

27And Moses sends his father-in-law away, and he goes away to his own land.