Exodus 18 - LSB Bible Online

Exodus 18

Jethro’s Counsel

Now ^aJethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife ^aZipporah, after he had sent her away, 3 and her ^atwo sons, of whom ¹one was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been ^ba ²sojourner in a foreign land.” 4 ¹And the other was named ²^aEliezer, for he said, “^bThe God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses ¹in the wilderness where he was camped, at ^athe mount of God. 6 And he ¹sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” 7 Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and ^ahe bowed down and ^bkissed him; and they ^casked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8 And Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians ^afor Israel’s sake, all the ^bhardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how ^cYahweh had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced over all ^athe goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, that He had delivered ¹them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 So Jethro said, “^aBlessed be Yahweh who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that ^aYahweh is greater than all the gods; ¹for ^bin this matter they acted presumptuously against ²the people.” 12 ^aThen Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat ¹a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13 Now it happened the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. 14 And Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, so he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me ^ato inquire of God. 16 When they have a ^amatter, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.” 17 And Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. 18 ^aYou will surely wear out, both yourself and ¹these people who are with you, for the ²task is too heavy for you; ^byou cannot do it alone. 19 Now listen to my voice: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. ¹You be the people’s representative before God, and you ^abring the matters to God; 20 ^athen warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them ^bthe way in which they shall go and the work they shall do. 21 But you shall ¹select ^aexcellent men out of all the people, ^bthose who fear God, men of truth, those who ^chate greedy gain; and you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands, ²of hundreds, ²of fifties, and ²of tens. 22 And they will judge the people at all times. And it will be ^athat every major matter they will bring to you, but every minor matter they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and ^bthey will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to ¹endure, and all ²these people also will go to ³their place in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose ^aexcellent men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, ¹of hundreds, ¹of fifties, and ¹of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times; ^athe difficult matter they would bring to Moses, but every minor matter they themselves would judge. 27 Then Moses ¹^alet his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

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