Exodus 18

18 ¹ Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard about everything our Father had done for Moses and for Israel his people — how he had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken in Zipporah, Moses' wife, after Moses had sent her home, ³ along with her two sons. One was named Gershom, for Moses had said, "I have been a foreigner in a foreign land," ⁴ and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, "our Father of my father was my helper, and rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh." ¹ 1 v4 Eliezer means "my God is my help" — the name Moses gave his son in thanks for the rescue from Pharaoh. ⁵ Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with Moses' sons and wife to him in the wilderness, where he was camped at the mountain of our Father. ⁶ He sent word to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife and her two sons with her."

⁷ So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. They greeted each other and asked about each other's welfare, and then they went into the tent. ⁸ Then Moses told his father-in-law everything our Father had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardships they had faced along the way, and how he had rescued them. ⁹ And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things our Father had done for Israel, in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ Jethro said, "Blessed be the Sovereign Father, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, who rescued the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the Sovereign Father is greater than all gods, for in the very matter in which they acted arrogantly, he was over them." ¹² Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to our Father, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to share a meal with Moses' father-in-law before our Father.

A Father-in-Law's Wisdom for the Overwhelmed

¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning until evening. ¹⁴ When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, with all the people standing around you from morning until evening?"

¹⁵ Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to seek our Father; ¹⁶ when they have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide between one person and another, and I make known the statutes of our Father and his laws." ¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law said to him, "What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. ¹⁹ Now listen to me; I will give you advice, and may our Father be with you. You should be the people's representative before him, and bring their cases to him. ²⁰ Warn them about the statutes and the laws, and show them the way they must walk and what they must do. ²¹ And look for capable men from among all the people — men who fear our Father, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and place them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² Let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they will bring to you, but every small matter they will decide themselves. So it will be lighter for you, and they will carry it with you. ²³ If you do this, and our Father commands you to, then you will be able to endure, and all these people too will go to their place in peace."

²⁴ So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵ Moses chose capable men from all Israel and appointed them as leaders over the people — leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ They judged the people at all times: the hard cases they brought to Moses, but every small matter they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and he went back to his own land.