1.
Now Moses' father in law, Jethro, the chieftain of Midian, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, His people that the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt.
2.
So Moses' father in law, Jethro, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after she had been sent away,
3.
and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom, because he [Moses] said, "I was a stranger in a foreign land,"
4.
and one who was named Eliezer, because [Moses said,] "The God of my father came to my aid and rescued me from Pharaoh's sword."
5.
Now Moses' father in law, Jethro, and his [Moses'] sons and his wife came to Moses, to the desert where he was encamped, to the mountain of God.
6.
And he said to Moses, "I, Jethro, your father in law, am coming to you, and [so is] your wife and her two sons with her. "
7.
So Moses went out toward Jethro, prostrated himself and kissed him, and they greeted one another, and they entered the tent.
8.
Moses told his father in law [about] all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians on account of Israel, [and about] all the hardships that had befallen them on the way, and [that] the Lord had saved them.
9.
Jethro was happy about all the good that the Lord had done for Israel, that He had rescued them from the hands of the Egyptians.
10.
[Thereupon,] Jethro said, "Blessed is the Lord, Who has rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, Who has rescued the people from beneath the hand of the Egyptians.
11.
Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the deities, for with the thing that they plotted, [He came] upon them."
12.
Then Moses' father in law, Jethro, sacrificed burnt offering[s] and [peace] offerings to God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to dine with Moses' father in law before God.
13.
It came about on the next day that Moses sat down to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning until the evening.
14.
When Moses' father in law saw what he was doing to the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing to the people? Why do you sit by yourself, while all the people stand before you from morning till evening?"
15.
Moses said to his father in law, "For the people come to me to seek God.
16.
If any of them has a case, he comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the statutes of God and His teachings."
17.
Moses' father in law said to him, "The thing you are doing is not good.
18.
You will surely wear yourself out both you and these people who are with you for the matter is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.
19.
Now listen to me. I will advise you, and may the Lord be with you. [You] represent the people before God, and you shall bring the matters to God.
20.
And you shall admonish them concerning the statutes and the teachings, and you shall make known to them the way they shall go and the deed[s] they shall do.
21.
But you shall choose out of the entire nation men of substance, God fearers, men of truth, who hate monetary gain, and you shall appoint over them [Israel] leaders over thousands, leaders over hundreds, leaders over fifties, and leaders over tens.
22.
And they shall judge the people at all times, and it shall be that any major matter they shall bring to you, and they themselves shall judge every minor matter, thereby making it easier for you, and they shall bear [the burden] with you.
23.
If you do this thing, and the Lord commands you, you will be able to survive, and also, all this people will come upon their place in peace."
24.
Moses obeyed his father in law, and he did all that he said.
25.
Moses chose men of substance out of all Israel and appointed them as heads of the people, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens.
26.
And they would judge the people at all times; the difficult case they would bring to Moses, but any minor case they themselves would judge.
27.
Moses saw his father in law off, and he went away to his land.
