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

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;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.⁹ And Jethro rejoices for all the good which YHWH has done to Israel, whom He has delivered 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;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!"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.

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;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?"¹⁵ And Moses says to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to seek God;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."¹⁷ And the father-in-law of Moses says to him, "The thing which you are doing [is] not 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.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;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.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,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.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."²⁴ And Moses listens to the voice of his father-in-law, and does all that he 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,²⁶ and they have judged the people at all times; they bring the hard matter to Moses, and they judge every small matter themselves.²⁷ And Moses sends his father-in-law away, and he goes away to his own land.