The Visit of Jethro
1. Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for His people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2. After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro took her in
3. and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have become an alien in a foreign land,”
4. and the other was named Eliezer, because he had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
5. So Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
6. And Jethro had sent word to Moses, saying, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
7. So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.
8. Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.
9. Jethro rejoiced over all the good that the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians.
10. “Blessed be the LORD,” Jethro said, “who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians.
11. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel arrogantly.”
12. Then Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.
Jethro Advises Moses
13. The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening.
14. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting alone, with all the people standing around you from morning until evening?”
15. Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16. When they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I judge between one man and another, and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
17. “What you are doing is not good,” Moses’ father-in-law replied.
18. “You will surely wear yourself out—and not only yourself, but these people as well. For this task is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.
19. Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to Him.
20. You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain. Appoint them as leaders over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
21. Let them judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every important case but judge every minor case themselves, so that you may lighten your load and they will bear it with you.
22. If you do this, and God so commands, you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home satisfied.”
23. So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he had said.
24. And Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them heads over the people as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
25. They judged the people at all times; the difficult cases they brought to Moses, but every minor dispute they judged themselves.
26. Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.