Jethro bringeth to Moses his wife and two sons.

1 ¶ When Jethro,º the priestº of Midian,º Moses'º father in law,ºª heardºª² of all² that² Godº had doneºª for Moses,º and for Israelº his people,º [and] that² the LORDº had brought¹ª Israel¹ out²²² of Egypt;º² 2 Then Jethro,º Moses'º father in law,ºª tookºª² Zipporah,º Moses'º wife,º afterº he had sent her back,º 3 And her twoº sons;º of which² the nameº of the oneº [was] Gershom;¹² for² he said,ºª I have been² an alienº in a strangeº land:º 4 And the nameº of the otherº [was] Eliezer;º for² the Godº of my father,º [said he, was] mine help,º and deliveredºª me from the swordº² of Pharaoh:º 5 And Jethro,º Moses'º father in law,ºª cameºª with his sonsº and his wifeº unto² Mosesº into² the wilderness,º where²² he² encampedºª at the mountº of God:º 6 And he saidºª unto² Moses,º I² thy father in lawºª Jethroº am comeºª unto² thee, and thy wife,º and her twoº sonsº with² her.

Moses entertaineth him.

7 ¶ And Mosesº went outºª to meetºª his father in law,ºª and did obeisance,ºª and kissedºª him; and they askedºª eachº otherº of [their] welfare;º and they cameºª into the tent.º 8 And Mosesº toldºª his father in lawºª² all² that² the LORDº had doneºª unto Pharaohº and to the Egyptiansº for² Israel'sº sake,º [and]² all² the travailº that² had come¹ª upon² them by the way,º and [how] the LORDº deliveredºª them. 9 And Jethroº rejoicedºª for² all² the goodnessº which² the LORDº had doneºª to Israel,º whom² he had deliveredºª out of the handº² of the Egyptians.º 10 And Jethroº said,ºª Blessedºª [be] the LORD,º who² hath deliveredºª you out of the handº² of the Egyptians,º and out of the handº² of Pharaoh,º who² hath deliveredºª² the peopleº from under²² the handº of the Egyptians.º 11 Now² I knowºª that² the LORDº [is] greaterº than all²² gods:º for² in the thingº wherein² they dealt proudlyºª [he was] above² them. 12 And Jethro,º Moses'º father in law,ºª tookºª a burnt offeringº and sacrificesº for God:º and Aaronº came,ºª and all² the eldersº of Israel,º to eatºª breadº with² Moses'º father in lawºª beforeº God.º

Jethro's counsel is accepted.

13 ¶ And it came to pass² on the morrow,º² that Mosesº satºª to judgeºª² the people:º and the peopleº stoodºª by² Mosesº from² the morningº unto² the evening.º 14 And when Moses'º father in lawºª sawºª² all² that² he² didºª to the people,º he said,ºª What² [is] this² thingº that² thou² doestºª to the people?º why² sittestºª thou² thyself alone,² and all² the peopleº standºª by² thee from² morningº unto² even?º 15 And Mosesº saidºª unto his father in law,ºª Because² the peopleº comeºª unto² me to enquireºª of God:º 16 When² they have² a matter,º they comeºª unto² me; and I judgeºª between² oneº and another,º and I do make [them] knowºª² the statutesº of God,º and his laws.º 17 And Moses'º father in lawºª saidºª unto² him, The thingº that² thou² doestºª [is] not² good.º 18 Thou wilt surely¹ª wear away,ºª both² thou,² and² this² peopleº that² [is] with² thee: for² this thingº [is] too heavyº for² thee; thou art not² ableºª to performºª it thyself alone.² 19 Hearkenºª now² unto my voice,º I will give thee counsel,ºª and Godº shall beºª with² thee: Be² thou² for the peopleº to God-ward,ºº that thou² mayest bringºª² the causesº unto² God:º 20 And thou shalt teachºª¹ them² ordinancesº and laws,º and shalt shewºª them² the wayº wherein they must walk,¹ª² and the work¹² that² they must do.ºª 21 Moreover thou² shalt provideºª out of all²² the peopleº ableº men,¹² such as fearº God,º men¹² of truth,º hatingºª covetousness;º and placeºª [such] over² them, [to be] rulersº of thousands,º [and] rulersº of hundreds,º rulersº of fifties,º and rulersº of tens:º 22 And let them judgeºª² the peopleº at all² seasons:º and it shall be,² [that] every² greatº matterº they shall bringºª unto² thee, but every² smallº matterº they² shall judge:ºª so shall it be easierºª for²² thyself, and they shall bearºª [the burden] with² thee. 23 If² thou shalt doºª² this² thing,º and Godº commandºª thee [so], then thou shalt be ableºª to endure,ºª and all² this² peopleº shall also² goºª to² their placeº in peace.º 24 So Mosesº hearkenedºª to the voiceº of his father in law,ºª and didºª all² that² he had said.ºª 25 And Mosesº choseºª ableº men¹² out of all²² Israel,º and madeºª them headsº over² the people,º rulersº of thousands,º rulersº of hundreds,º rulersº of fifties,º and rulersº of tens.º 26 And they judgedºª² the peopleº at all² seasons:º the hardº² causesº they broughtºª unto² Moses,º but every² smallº matterº¹ they judgedºª themselves.²

Jethro departeth.

27 ¶ And Mosesº let² his father in lawºª depart;ºª and he went¹ª his way² into² his own land.º