¹ And when Jethro the priest of Madian, the kinsman of Moses, had heard all the things that God had done to Moses, and to Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought forth Israel out of Egypt,

² He took Sephora the wife of Moses whom he had sent back:

³ And her two sons, of whom one was called Gersam, his father saying: I have been a stranger in a foreign country.

⁴ And the other Eliezer: For the God of my father, said he, is my helper, and hath delivered me from the sword of Pharao.

⁵ And Jethro the kinsman of Moses came with his sons and his wife, to Moses into the desert, where he was camped by the mountain of God.

⁶ And he sent word to Moses, saying: I Jethro thy kinsman come to thee, and thy wife, and thy two sons with her.

⁷ And he went out to meet his kinsman, and worshipped and kissed him: and they saluted one another with words of peace. And when he was come into the tent,

⁸ Moses told his kinsman all that the Lord had done to Pharao, and the Egyptians, in favour of Israel: and all the labour which had befallen them in the journey, and that the Lord had delivered them.

⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the good things that the Lord had done to Israel, because he had delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians.

¹⁰ And he said: Blessed is the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of Pharao, and out of the hand of the Egyptians, who hath delivered his people out of the hand of Egypt.

¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is great above all gods: because they dealt proudly against them.

¹² So Jethro the kinsman of Moses offered holocausts and sacrifices to God: and Aaron and all the ancients of Israel came, to eat bread with them before God.

¹³ And the next day Moses sat, to judge the people, who stood by Moses from morning until night.

¹⁴ And when his kinsman had seen all things that he did among the people, he said: What is it that thou dost among the people? Why sittest thou alone, and all the people wait from morning till night.

¹⁵ And Moses answered him: The people come to me to seek the judgment of God.

¹⁶ And when any controversy falleth out among them, they come to me to judge between them, and to shew the precepts of God, and his laws.

¹⁷ But he said: The thing thou dost is not good.

¹⁸ Thou are spent with foolish labour, both thou and this people that is with thee: the business is above thy strength, thou alone canst not bear it.

¹⁹ But hear my words and counsels, and God shall be with thee. Be thou to the people in those things that pertain to God, to bring their words to him:

²⁰ And to shew the people the ceremonies and the manner of worshipping, and the way wherein they ought to walk, and the work that they ought to do.

²¹ And provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, in whom there is truth, and that hate avarice, and appoint of them rulers of thousands, and of hundreds, and of fifties, and of tens.

²² Who may judge the people at all times: and when any great matter soever shall fall out, let them refer it to thee, and let them judge the lesser matters only: that so it may be lighter for thee, the burden being shared out unto others.

²³ If thou dost this, thou shalt fulfil the commandment of God, and shalt be able to bear his precepts: and all this people shall return to their places with peace.

²⁴ And when Moses heard this, he did all things that he had suggested unto him.

²⁵ And choosing able men out of all Israel, he appointed them rulers of the people, rulers over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.

²⁶ And they judged the people at all times: and whatsoever was of greater difficulty they referred to him, and they judged the easier cases only.

²⁷ And he let his kinsman depart: and he returned and went into his own country.

¹ After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

² I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea,

³ saying, "Don't harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!"

⁴ I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:

⁵ of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

⁶ of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

⁷ of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

⁸ of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰ They cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God,

¹² saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

¹³ One of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?"

¹⁴ I told him, "My lord, you know." He said to me, "These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb's blood.

¹⁵ Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them.

¹⁶ They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat;

¹⁷ for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."