The Visit of Jethro

¹ Now Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses and the priest of Midian, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

² Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took in Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after Moses had sent her back, ³ along with her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, for Moses said, “I have lived as an alien in a foreign land.” ⁴ The name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.”

⁵ Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with the sons of Moses and his wife into the wilderness where Moses was encamped, at the Mountain of God. ⁶ He said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”

⁷ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had come upon them on the way and how the Lord delivered them.

⁹ Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, “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. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods because of the things he did over the Egyptians when they dealt arrogantly against Israel.”

¹² Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron came with all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before the Lord.

Jethro Advises Moses

¹³ The next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning to evening.

¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?”

¹⁵ Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. ¹⁶ When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I teach them the statutes of God and his laws.”

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You will surely wear yourself out, both you, and this people who are with you, for this burden is too heavy for you. You cannot accomplish it alone. ¹⁹ Now listen to me, and I will give you counsel. God be with you, and you will represent the people before God and bring their cases to God.

²⁰ You shall teach them the statutes and the laws and shall show them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do.

²¹ Moreover you shall provide, out of all the people, able men who fear God: men of truth, who hate unjust gain, and place them over the people, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²² Let them judge the people all the time, except for every great matter–that they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will share the burden with you.

²³ If you will do this, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go home in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵ Moses 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. ²⁶ They judged the people all the time, but they brought the difficult cases to Moses. Every small matter they judged themselves.

²⁷ Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

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