18Moses' father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and the people of Israel when he led them out of Egypt.H3503H3548H4080H4872H2859H8085H430H6213H4872H3478H5971H3068H3318H3478H4714 2So he came to Moses, bringing with him Moses' wife Zipporah, who had been left behind,H3503H4872H2859H3947H6855H4872H802H310H7964 3and Gershom and Eliezer, her two sons. (Moses had said, "I have been a foreigner in a strange land"; so he had named one son Gershom.H8147H1121H8034H259H1647H559H1616H5237H776 4He had also said, "The God of my father helped me and saved me from being killed by the king of Egypt"; so he had named the other son Eliezer. )H8034H259H461H430H1H5828H5337H2719H6547 5Jethro came with Moses' wife and her two sons into the desert where Moses was camped at the holy mountain.H3503H4872H2859H935H1121H802H4872H4057H2583H2022H430 6He had sent word to Moses that they were coming,H559H4872H2859H3503H935H802H8147H1121 7so Moses went out to meet him, bowed before him, and kissed him. They asked about each other's health and then went into Moses' tent.H4872H3318H7125H2859H7812H5401H7592H376H7453H7965H935H168 8Moses told Jethro everything that the LORD had done to the king and the people of Egypt in order to rescue the Israelites. He also told him about the hardships the people had faced on the way and how the LORD had saved them.H4872H5608H2859H3068H6213H6547H4714H3478H182H8513H4672H1870H3068H5337 9When Jethro heard all this, he was happyH3503H2302H2896H3068H6213H3478H5337H3027H4714 10and said, "Praise the LORD, who saved you from the king and the people of Egypt! Praise the LORD, who saved his people from slavery!H3503H559H1288H3068H5337H3027H4714H3027H6547H5337H5971H3027H4714 11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods, because he did this when the Egyptians treated the Israelites with such contempt."H3045H3068H1419H430H1697H2102 12Then Jethro brought an offering to be burned whole and other sacrifices to be offered to God; and Aaron and all the leaders of Israel went with him to eat the sacred meal as an act of worship.H3503H4872H2859H3947H5930H2077H430H175H935H2205H3478H398H3899H4872H2859H6440H430 13The next day Moses was settling disputes among the people, and he was kept busy from morning till night.H4283H4872H3427H8199H5971H5971H5975H4872H1242H6153 14When Jethro saw everything that Moses had to do, he asked, "What is all this that you are doing for the people? Why are you doing this all alone, with people standing here from morning till night to consult you?"H4872H2859H7200H6213H5971H559H1697H6213H5971H3427H5971H5324H1242H6153 15Moses answered, "I must do this because the people come to me to learn God's will.H4872H559H2859H5971H935H1875H430 16When two people have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide which one of them is right, and I tell them God's commands and laws."H1697H935H8199H376H7453H3045H2706H430H8451 17Then Jethro said, "You are not doing this right.H4872H2859H559H1697H6213H2896 18You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone.H5034H5034H5971H1697H3515H3201H6213 19Now let me give you some good advice, and God will be with you. It is right for you to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him.H8085H6963H3289H430H1961H5971H4136H430H935H1697H430 20You should teach them God's commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do.H2094H853H2706H8451H3045H1870H3212H4639H6213 21But in addition, you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed.H2372H5971H2428H582H3373H430H582H571H8130H1215H7760H8269H505H8269H3967H8269H2572H8269H6235 22Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis. They can bring all the difficult cases to you, but they themselves can decide all the smaller disputes. That will make it easier for you, as they share your burden.H8199H5971H6256H1419H1697H935H6996H1697H8199H7043H5375 23If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled."H6213H1697H430H6680H3201H5975H5971H935H4725H7965 24Moses took Jethro's adviceH4872H8085H6963H2859H6213H559 25and chose capable men from among all the Israelites. He appointed them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.H4872H977H2428H582H3478H5414H7218H5971H8269H505H8269H3967H8269H2572H8269H6235 26They served as judges for the people on a permanent basis, bringing the difficult cases to Moses but deciding the smaller disputes themselves.H8199H5971H6256H7186H1697H935H4872H6996H1697H1992H8199 27Then Moses said good-bye to Jethro, and Jethro went back home.H4872H2859H7971H3212H776
Unknown
