Jethro Visits Moses

¹Jethro, the priest of Midian and Moses' father-in-law, heard about everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel — how the LORD had brought them out of Egypt. ²Earlier, Moses had sent his wife Zipporah back to her father, and Jethro had taken her in, ³along with her 2 sons. The first was named Gershom, because Moses had said, "I have been a foreigner in a foreign land." ⁴The second was named Eliezer, because Moses had said, "My father's God was my help and rescued me from Pharaoh's sword." ⁵Now Jethro brought Moses' wife and sons out to him in the wilderness, where Moses was camped near the mountain of God. ⁶He sent word to Moses: "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her 2 sons." ⁷Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed before him, and kissed him. They asked how each other was doing, and then went into the tent. ⁸Moses told his father-in-law everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships they had faced along the way, and how the LORD delivered them. ⁹Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, who freed the people from under the hand of the Egyptians." ¹¹Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, for in the matter where they acted arrogantly, he was above them. ¹²Then Jethro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came and shared a meal with Moses' father-in-law in God's presence. ¹³The next day, Moses took his seat to settle disputes among the people. They stood around him from morning until evening. ¹⁴When his father-in-law saw everything Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What exactly are you doing here? Why are you handling all of this alone, with everyone standing around you from morning to night?" ¹⁵Moses answered, "The people come to me to seek God's guidance. ¹⁶Whenever they have a dispute, they bring it to me. I settle the matter between them and teach them God's statutes and laws." ¹⁷His father-in-law replied, "What you're doing isn't good. ¹⁸You're going to burn yourself out — and the people too. This job is too heavy for you. You can't do it alone. ¹⁹Listen to my advice, and may God be with you. You should be the one who represents the people before God and brings their cases to him. ²⁰Teach them ordinances and laws. Show them the way they must walk and the work they must do. ²¹But also look for capable men from among all the people — men who fear God, who are honest, and who hate dishonest profit. Appoint them as leaders over groups of 1,000, 100, 50, and 10. ²²Let them handle disputes for the people all the time. They can bring the difficult cases to you, but they should settle the smaller matters themselves. That will lighten your load because they'll share the burden with you. ²³If you do this, and God commands you to, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their place in peace. ²⁴Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he suggested. ²⁵He chose capable men from all of Israel and appointed them as leaders over the people — over groups of 1,000, 100, 50, and 10. ²⁶They judged the people at all times. They brought the difficult cases to Moses, but handled every small matter themselves. ²⁷Then Moses said goodbye to his father-in-law, and Jethro returned to his own land.