Exodus 18:13-27

Good News Translation

The Appointment of Judges^(A)

¹³ The next day Moses was settling disputes among the people, and he was kept busy from morning till night. ¹⁴ When Jethro saw everything that Moses had to do, he asked, “What is all this that you are doing for the people? Why are you doing this all alone, with people standing here from morning till night to consult you?”

¹⁵ Moses answered, “I must do this because the people come to me to learn God's will. ¹⁶ When two people have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide which one of them is right, and I tell them God's commands and laws.”

¹⁷ Then Jethro said, “You are not doing this right. ¹⁸ You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone. ¹⁹ Now let me give you some good advice, and God will be with you. It is right for you to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ You should teach them God's commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do. ²¹ But in addition, you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They must be God-fearing men who can be trusted and who cannot be bribed. ²² Let them serve as judges for the people on a permanent basis. They can bring all the difficult cases to you, but they themselves can decide all the smaller disputes. That will make it easier for you, as they share your burden. ²³ If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled.”

²⁴ Moses took Jethro's advice ²⁵ and chose capable men from among all the Israelites. He appointed them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²⁶ They served as judges for the people on a permanent basis, bringing the difficult cases to Moses but deciding the smaller disputes themselves.

²⁷ Then Moses said good-bye to Jethro, and Jethro went back home.