| Chapter
18 |
| 1 | When
Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father in law, heard of all that God had
done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel
out of Egypt; |
| 2 | Then
Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her
back, |
| 3 | And her two sons;
of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in
a strange land: |
| 4 | And the
name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine
help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: |
|
5 | And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his
sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the
mount of God: |
| 6 | And he
said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife,
and her two sons with her. |
| 7 |
And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed
him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the
tent. |
| 8 | And Moses told
his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians
for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and
how the LORD delivered them. |
| 9
| And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to
Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. |
| 10 | And Jethro said, Blessed be the
LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the
hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the
Egyptians. |
| 11 | Now I know
that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt
proudly he was above them. |
| 12
| And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices
for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses'
father in law before God. |
| 13 |
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and
the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. |
| 14 | And when Moses' father in law saw all
that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the
people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from
morning unto even? |
| 15 |
And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to
inquire of God: |
| 16 | When
they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and
I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. |
| 17 | And Moses' father in law said unto
him, The thing that thou doest is not good. |
| 18 | Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people
that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to
perform it thyself alone. |
| 19 |
Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with
thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes
unto God: |
| 20 | And thou
shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they
must walk, and the work that they must do. |
| 21 | Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able
men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over
them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and
rulers of tens: |
| 22 | And
let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great
matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so
shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. |
| 23 | If thou shalt do this
thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this
people shall also go to their place in peace. |
| 24 | So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law,
and did all that he had said. |
| 25
| And 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 | And
they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses,
but every small matter they judged themselves. |
|
27 | And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went
his way into his own land. |
