Exodus:18
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When Jethro ,
the priest of Midian ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people ,
that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt ,
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then Jethro ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
took Zipporah ,
Moses '
wife ,
after he had sent her back ,
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and her two sons ,
of which the name of the one [
was ]
Gershom (
for he said ,
I have been an alien in a strange land ),
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and the name of the other [
was ]
Eliezer (
for the God of my father ,
my help ,
delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh .)
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And Jethro ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness ,
where he camped at the mount of God .
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And he said to Moses ,
I ,
your father-in-law Jethro ,
have come to you ,
and your wife and her two sons with her .
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And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law ,
and bowed down to him ,
and kissed him .
And they asked each other of [
their ]
welfare .
And they came into the tent .
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And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel '
s sake ,
all the travail that had come upon them by the way ,
and [
how ]
the LORD delivered them .
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And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel ,
whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians .
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And Jethro said ,
Blessed [
be ]
the LORD ,
who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh ,
and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians .
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Now I know that Jehovah [
is ]
greater than all gods ;
for in the thing in which they were proved against them .
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And Jethro ,
Moses '
father-in-law ,
took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God .
And Aaron came ,
and all the elders of Israel ,
to eat bread with Moses '
father-in-law before God .
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And on the next day it happened that Moses sat to judge the people .
And the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening .
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And when Moses '
father-in-law saw all that he did to the people ,
he said ,
What [
is ]
this thing which you do to the people ?
Why do you sit alone by yourself ,
and all the people stand by you from morning to evening ?
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And Moses said to his father-in-law ,
Because the people come to me to inquire of God .
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When they have a matter ,
they come to me .
And I judge between one and another ,
and I make known the statutes of God and His laws .
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And Moses '
father-in-law said to him ,
The thing that you do [
is ]
not good .
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You will surely wear away ,
both you and this people that [
is ]
with you .
For this thing [
is ]
too heavy for you ;
you are not able to perform it alone .
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Listen now to my voice ;
I will give you counsel ,
and God will be with you .
You be for the people toward God ,
that you may bring the causes to God .
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And you shall teach them ordinances and laws ,
and shall make them know the way in which they must walk ,
and the work that they must do .
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And you shall look out of all the people able men ,
such as fear God ,
men of truth ,
hating covetousness .
And place [
such ]
over them to be rulers of thousands ,
and rulers of hundreds ,
rulers of fifties ,
and rulers of tens .
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And let them judge the people at all times .
And it shall be ,
every great matter they shall bring to you ,
but every small matter they shall judge .
And make it easier for yourself ,
and they shall bear with you .
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If you will do this thing ,
and God command you ,
then you shall be able to endure ,
and all this people shall also go to their place in peace .
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And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law ,
and did all that he had said .
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And Moses chose able men out of all Israel ,
and made them heads over the people ,
rulers of thousands ,
rulers of hundreds ,
rulers of fifties ,
and rulers of tens .
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And they judged the people at all times .
The hard causes they brought to Moses ,
but every small matter they judged themselves .
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And Moses let his father-in-law depart .
And he went his way into his own land .