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 And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.

² And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

³ And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

⁴ And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

⁵ Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

⁶ So Isaac abode in Gerara.

⁷ And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would like him because of her beauty.

⁸ And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife.

⁹ And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

¹⁰ And Abimelech said: Why hadst thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

¹¹ He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.

¹² And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

¹³ And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great:

¹⁴ And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

¹⁵ Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

¹⁶ Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.

¹⁷ So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

¹⁸ And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them.

¹⁹ And they digged in the torrent, and found living water.

²⁰ But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

²¹ And they digged also another; and for that they quarreled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

²² Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

²³ And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

²⁴ Where the Lord appeared to him that same might, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

²⁵ And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.

²⁶ To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,

²⁷ Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

²⁸ And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

²⁹ That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.

³⁰ And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

³¹ Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

³² And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

³³ Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.

³⁴ And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.

³⁵ And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.