¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because ^(A)the people come to me to inquire of God; ^16 (B)when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I ^(C)make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. ^(D)You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹ Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall ^(E)represent the people before God and ^(F)bring their cases to God, ²⁰ and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know ^(G)the way in which they must walk and ^(H)what they must do. ²¹ Moreover, look for ^(I)able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² And ^(J)let them judge the people at all times. ^(K)Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will ^(L)bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, God will direct you, you will be ^(M)able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ^25 (N)Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ And ^(O)they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

^30 (A)(B)The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^(C)they had no leisure even to eat. ^32 (D)And they went away in ^(E)the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³ Now many saw them going and ^(F)recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When he went ashore he ^(G)saw a great crowd, and ^(H)he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ^36 (I)Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, ^(J)“You give them something to eat.” And ^(K)they said to him, ^(L)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[a] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^(M)“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^(N)looked up to heaven and ^(O)said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.