Exodus 18

1 And Jethro priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses, hears all that God has done for Moses and for His people Israel, that YHWH has brought out Israel from Egypt,

Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people. He heard that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2 and Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, takes Zipporah, wife of Moses, after her parting,

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home,

3 and her two sons, of whom the name of one [is] Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a strange land”;

and her two sons; the name of the one son was Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

4 and the name of the other [is] Eliezer, for, “The God of my father [is] for my help, and He delivers me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

The name of the other was Eliezer, for Moses had said, “My ancestor's God was my help. He rescued me from Pharaoh's sword.”

5 And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, comes, and his sons, and his wife, to Moses, to the wilderness where he is encamping—the mountain of God;

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with Moses' sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped at the mountain of God.

6 and he says to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.”

He said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

7 And Moses goes out to meet his father-in-law, and bows himself, and kisses him, and they ask of one another of welfare, and come into the tent;

Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. They asked about each other's welfare and then went into the tent.

8 and Moses recounts to his father-in-law all that YHWH has done to Pharaoh, and to the Egyptians, on account of Israel, all the travail which has found them in the way, and [how] YHWH delivers them.

Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, about all the hardships that had come to them along the way, and how Yahweh had rescued them.

9 And Jethro rejoices for all the good which YHWH has done to Israel, whom He has delivered from the hand of the Egyptians;

Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Yahweh had done for Israel, in that he had rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.

10 and Jethro says, “Blessed [is] YHWH, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of Pharaoh—who has delivered this people from under the hand of the Egyptians;

Jethro said, “May Yahweh be praised, for he has rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians.

11 now I have known that YHWH [is] greater than all the gods, for in the thing they have acted proudly—[He is] above them!”

Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, because when the Egyptians treated the Israelites arrogantly, God rescued his people.”

12 And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, takes a burnt-offering and sacrifices [it] for God; and Aaron comes in, and all [the] elderly of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses, before God.

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat a meal before God with Moses' father-in-law.

13 And it comes to pass on the next day, that Moses sits to judge the people, and the people stand before Moses from the morning to the evening;

On the next day Moses sat down to judge the people. The people stood around him from morning until evening.

14 and the father-in-law of Moses sees all that he is doing for the people and says, “What [is] this thing which you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting by yourself, and all the people standing by you from morning until evening?”

When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing with the people? Why is it that you sit alone and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?”

15 And Moses says to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to seek God;

Moses said to his father-in-law, “The people come to me to ask for God's direction.

16 when they have a matter, it has come to me, and I have judged between a man and his neighbor, and made known the statutes of God, and His laws.”

When they have a dispute, they come to me. I decide between one person and another, and I teach them God's statutes and laws.”

17 And the father-in-law of Moses says to him, “The thing which you are doing [is] not good;

Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not very good.

18 you surely wear away, both you, and this people which [is] with you, for the thing is too heavy for you, you are not able to do it by yourself.

You will surely wear yourselves out, you and the people who are with you. This burden is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it by yourself.

19 Now listen to my voice, I counsel you, and God is with you: be for the people before God, and you have brought in the things to God;

Listen to me. I will give you advice, and God will be with you, because you are the people's representative to God, and you bring their disputes to him.

20 and you have warned them [concerning] the statutes and the laws, and have made known to them the way in which they go, and the work which they do.

You must teach them his statutes and laws. You must show them the way to walk and the work to do.

21 And you provide out of all the people men of ability, fearing God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and have placed [these] over them [for] heads of thousands, heads of hundreds, heads of fifties, and heads of tens,

Furthermore, you must choose capable men from all the people, men who honor God, men of truth who hate unjust gain. You must put them over people, to be leaders in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and of tens.

22 and they have judged the people at all times; and it has come to pass, they bring every great matter to you, and they judge every small matter themselves; and lighten it from off yourself, and they have borne with you.

They will judge the people in all routine cases, but the difficult cases they will bring to you. As for all the small cases, they can judge those themselves. In that way it will be easier for you, and they will carry the burden with you.

23 If you do this thing, and God has commanded you, then you have been able to stand, and all this people also goes to its place in peace.”

If you do this, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure, and the entire people will be able to go home satisfied.”

24 And Moses listens to the voice of his father-in-law, and does all that he said,

So Moses listened to his father-in-law's words and did everything that he had said.

25 and Moses chooses men of ability out of all Israel, and makes them chiefs over the people [for] heads of thousands, heads of hundreds, heads of fifties, and heads of tens,

Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

26 and they have judged the people at all times; they bring the hard matter to Moses, and they judge every small matter themselves.

They judged the people in normal circumstances. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but they themselves judged all the small cases.

27 And Moses sends his father-in-law away, and he goes away to his own land.

Then Moses let his father-in-law leave, and Jethro went back into his own land.