Exodus 18 — BST
18Verse 1And Jothor the priest of Madiam, the father-in-law of Moses, heard of all that the Lord did to his people Israel; for the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt.Verse 2And Jothor the father-in-law of Moses, took Sepphora the wife of Moses after she had been sent away,Verse 3and her two sons: the name of the one was Gersam, his father saying, I was a sojourner in a strange land;—Verse 4and the name of the second Eliezer, saying, For the God of my father is my helper, and he has rescued me out of the hand of Pharao.Verse 5And Jothor the father-in-law of Moses, and his sons and his wife, went forth to Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped on the mount of God.Verse 6And it was told Moses, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law Jothor is coming to thee, and thy wife and two sons with him.Verse 7And Moses went forth to meet his father-in-law, and did him reverence, and kissed him, and they embraced each other, and he brought them into the tent.Verse 8And Moses related to his father-in-law all things that the Lord did to Pharao and all the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the labour that had befallen them in the way, and that the Lord had rescued them out of the hand of Pharao, and out of the hand of the Egyptians.Verse 9And Jothor was amazed at all the good things which the Lord did to them, forasmuch as he rescued them out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharao.Verse 10And Jothor said, Blessed be the Lord, because he has rescued them out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharao.Verse 11Now know I that the Lord is great above all gods, because of this,+wherein they attacked them.Verse 12And Jothor the father-in-law of Moses took whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices for God, for Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God.Verse 13And it came to pass after the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people, and all the people stood by Moses from morning till evening.Verse 14And Jothor having seen all that Moses+did to the people, says, What is this that thou doest to the people? wherefore sittest thou alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning till evening?Verse 15And Moses says to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to seek judgment from God.Verse 16For whenever there is a dispute among them, and they come to me, I give judgment upon each, and I teach them the ordinances of God and his law.Verse 17And the father-in-law of Moses said to him, Thou dost not this thing rightly,Verse 18thou wilt wear away with intolerable weariness, both thou and all this people which is with thee: this thing is hard, thou wilt not be able to endure it thyself alone.Verse 19Now then hearken to me, and I will advise thee, and God shall be with thee: be thou to the people in the things pertaining to God, and thou shalt bring their+matters to God.Verse 20And thou shalt testify to them the ordinances of God and his law, and thou shalt shew to them the ways in which they shall walk, and the works which they shall do.Verse 21And do thou look out for thyself out of all the people able men, fearing God, righteous men, hating pride, and thou shalt set over+the people captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens.Verse 22And they shall judge the people at all times, and the too burdensome matter they shall bring to thee, but they shall judge the smaller cases; so they shall relieve thee and help thee.Verse 23If thou wilt do this thing, God shall strengthen thee, and thou shalt be able to attend, and all this people shall come with peace into+their own place.Verse 24And Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did whatsoever he said to him.Verse 25And Moses chose out able men out of all Israel, and he made them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties and captains of tens over+the people.Verse 26And they judged the people at all times; and every too burdensome matter they brought to Moses, but every light matter they judged themselves.Verse 27And Moses dismissed his father-in-law, and he returned to his own land.