1
And Jethro the priest of Midian , Moses ' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done to Moses , and to Israel his people; that Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt .
2
And Jethro , Moses ' father-in-law, took Zipporah , Moses ' wife , after he had sent her back,
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and her two sons, of whom the name of the one was Gershom -- for he said , I have been a sojourner in a foreign land ,
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-- and the name of the other, Eliezer -- For the God of my father has been my help, and has delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh .
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And Jethro , Moses ' father-in-law, came to Moses with his sons and his wife into the wilderness , where he encamped at the mountain of God .
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And he sent word to Moses : I, thy father-in-law Jethro , am come to thee, and thy wife , and her two sons with her.
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And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other [after] their welfare, and went into the tent .
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And Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake; all the trouble that had befallen them on the way , and [how] Jehovah had delivered them.
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And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness that Jehovah had done to Israel ; that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians .
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And Jethro said , Blessed be Jehovah , who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians , and out of the hand of Pharaoh ; 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 acted haughtily [he was] above 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 in the presence of God .
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And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening .
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And Moses ' father-in-law saw all that he did with the people, and said , What is this thing which thou art doing with the people? why dost thou sit alone, and all the people are standing by thee from morning to evening ?
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And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to enquire 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 [to them] the statutes of God , and his laws .
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And Moses ' father-in-law said to him, The thing that thou art doing is not good .
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Thou wilt be quite exhausted, both thou and this people that is with thee; for the thing is too heavy for thee: thou canst not perform it alone.
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Hearken now to my voice : I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people with God , and bring the matters before God ;
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and teach them the statutes and the laws , and make known to them the way in which they must walk , and the work that they must do.
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But do thou provide among all the people able men, such as fear God , men of truth , hating covetousness; and place [them] over them, chiefs of thousands , chiefs of hundreds , chiefs of fifties , and chiefs of tens ,
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that they may judge the people at all times ; and it shall be [that] they shall bring to thee every great matter, and that they shall judge every small matter, and they shall lighten [the task] on thee, and they shall bear [it] with thee.
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If thou do this thing, and God command thee [so], thou wilt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace .
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And Moses hearkened 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, chiefs of thousands , chiefs of hundreds , chiefs of fifties , and chiefs of tens .
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And they judged the people at all times : the hard matters they brought to Moses , but every small matter they judged .
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And Moses sent away his father-in-law, and he departed into his land .