Jethro comes to Moses
1Jethro was the priest of Midian and the father-in-law of Moses. Moses told him of everything that God did for him and the Israelites when He brought them out of Egypt. 2Some time before, Moses had sent his wife Zipporah back to his father-in-law, Jethro. Now Jethro took Zipporah 3and her 2 sons back to Moses. The name of one son was Gershom, because Moses said: ‘I was a stranger in another land.’ 4The name of his other son was Eliezer, because Moses said: ‘The God of my father helped me and He saved me when Pharaoh wanted to kill me.’ 5Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought Moses' 2 sons and his wife to him. Moses and the Israelites put up their tents in the desert near the mountain of God, Mount Sinai. 6Jethro sent a message to Moses. He said: ‘I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her 2 sons.’
7Moses went to meet his father-in-law. He bowed before him and kissed him. They asked each other how they were and then they went into Moses' tent. 8Moses told his father-in-law everything that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians because the Lord wanted to help the Israelites. He also told Jethro of all the problems that the Israelites had had before they came to the mountain of God and how the Lord had saved them. 9Jethro was very happy when they told him of all the good things that the Lord had done for the Israelites when He saved them from the Egyptians. 10Jethro said: ‘I praise the Lord who saved you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. 11Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods. He saved the Israelites when the Egyptians made them suffer so much.’
12Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, sacrificed a burnt-offering and other offerings to God. Aaron and all the leaders_of_Israel came to eat with Moses' father-in-law.
Moses chooses judges
13The next morning Moses started to listen to people who had problems with each other and he had to judge who was right. The people came to Moses from the morning until the night. 14His father-in-law saw everything that Moses did for the people. He asked: ‘What are you doing for all the people? Why are you the only judge? Why do they have to wait for you from morning until night?’
15Moses said to his father-in-law: ‘The people come to me, and I tell them what God says. 16When they have problems with each other, they come to me. I tell them who is right and who is wrong. This is how I teach them what God wants them to do.’
17Moses' father-in-law said to him: ‘What you are doing is not good. 18You will become too tired, both you and all the people who are here. This is too difficult for you. You can not do it alone. 19Listen to me. I will tell you what to do and God will help you. You must talk to God about the people and tell God about their problems. 20You must teach them what God wants them to do. You must show them how to live in the right way and what they must do.
21You must choose men who honour God and know what to do. They must be honest men who will never cheat. You must choose them to be the leaders over 1 000 people or 100 people or 50 people or 10 people. 22Then they can listen to the problems of the people. The leaders can bring all the big problems to you and they can listen to all the small problems. This will be easier for you and they can help you. 23If you do this, as God commands, then you will be able to keep on doing your work and the people will be happy and go home with peace in their hearts.’
24Moses listened to his father-in-law. He did everything that Jethro said. 25Moses chose men from all the tribes_of_Israel, men who knew what to do, and Moses made them leaders of the nation. There were leaders over 1 000 people, 100 people, 50 and 10 people. 26The leaders listened to the people's problems. They brought the big problems to Moses and they decided what to do with all the small problems. 27Moses said goodbye to his father-in-law and Jethro went back to his own land.
