Exodus 18:13-26

Legacy Standard Bible

¹³ Now it happened the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. ¹⁴ And Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, so he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me ^(A)to inquire of God. ¹⁶ When they have a ^(B)matter, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.” ¹⁷ And Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. ^18 (C)You will surely wear out, both yourself and ^[a]these people who are with you, for the ^[b]task is too heavy for you; ^(D)you cannot do it alone. ¹⁹ Now listen to my voice: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. ^[c]You be the people’s representative before God, and you ^(E)bring the matters to God; ^20 (F)then warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them ^(G)the way in which they shall go and the work they shall do. ²¹ But you shall ^[d]select ^(H)excellent men out of all the people, ^(I)those who fear God, men of truth, those who ^(J)hate greedy gain; and you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands, ^[e]of hundreds, ^[f]of fifties, and ^[g]of tens. ²² And they will judge the people at all times. And it will be ^(K)that every major matter they will bring to you, but every minor matter they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and ^(L)they will bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to ^[h]endure, and all ^[i]these people also will go to ^[j]their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵ And Moses chose ^(M)excellent men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, ^[k]of hundreds, ^[l]of fifties, and ^[m]of tens. ²⁶ And they judged the people at all times; ^(N)the difficult matter they would bring to Moses, but every minor matter they themselves would judge.