Jethro Visits Moses
1 Moses' father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and the people of Israel when he led them out of Egypt. 2 So he came to Moses, bringing with him Moses' wife Zipporah, who had been left behind, 3 and Gershom and Eliezer, her two sons. (Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a strange land”; so he had named one son Gershom. 4 He had also said, “The God of my father helped me and saved me from being killed by the king of Egypt”; so he had named the other son Eliezer. ) 5 Jethro came with Moses' wife and her two sons into the desert where Moses was camped at the holy mountain. 6 He had sent word to Moses that they were coming, 7 so Moses went out to meet him, bowed before him, and kissed him. They asked about each other's health and then went into Moses' tent. 8 Moses told Jethro everything that the Lord had done to the king and the people of Egypt in order to rescue the Israelites. He also told him about the hardships the people had faced on the way and how the Lord had saved them. 9 When Jethro heard all this, he was happy 10 and said, “Praise the Lord, who saved you from the king and the people of Egypt! Praise the Lord, who saved his people from slavery! 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, because he did this when the Egyptians treated the Israelites with such contempt.” 12 Then Jethro brought an offering to be burned whole and other sacrifices to be offered to God; and Aaron and all the leaders of Israel went with him to eat the sacred meal as an act of worship.
The Appointment of Judges
(Deuteronomy 1.9-18)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.
Jetrus padoms Mozum
(5Moz 1:9–18)1 Jetrus, Midjāna priesteris, Mozus sievastēvs, padzirdēja visu, ko Dievs bija darījis Mozum un Israēlam, savai tautai, – ka Kungs izvedis Israēlu no Ēģiptes. 2 Jetrus, Mozus sievastēvs, bija pieņēmis Mozus sievu Ciporu, ko tas bija atlaidis, 3 kā arī abus viņas dēlus, no kuriem vienam vārds bija Gēršoms, jo viņš bija teicis: es biju piedzīvotājs svešā zemē, – 4 bet otra vārds bija Elīezers, jo: mana tēva Dievs bija mans glābējs un izglāba mani no faraona zobena. 5 Un nāca Jetrus, Mozus sievastēvs, un viņa dēli un sieva pie Mozus uz tuksnesi, kur viņš bija apmeties pie Dieva kalna. 6 Un viņš Mozum paziņoja: “Es, tavs sievastēvs Jetrus, nāku pie tevis kopā ar tavu sievu un abiem viņas dēliem!” 7 Tad Mozus izgāja pretī savam sievastēvam, klanījās un skūpstīja viņu, un viņi jautāja viens otram, vai labi klājas, un tad viņi gāja teltī. 8 Mozus pastāstīja savam sievastēvam visu, ko Kungs bija darījis faraonam un ēģiptiešiem Israēla dēļ – arī par visām grūtībām, kas pār tiem bija nākušas ceļā, un kā Kungs viņus izglābis. 9 Jetrus līksmoja par visu labo, ko Kungs bija darījis Israēlam – izglābis no ēģiptiešu rokas! 10 Un Jetrus teica: “Slavēts Kungs, kas jūs ir izglābis no ēģiptiešiem un faraona un tautu – no ēģiptiešu rokas! 11 Tagad es zinu, ka Kungs ir lielāks par visiem citiem dieviem – tie tikai lielījās, bet viņš bija lielāks!” 12 Un Jetrus, Mozus sievastēvs, nesa Dievam sadedzināmo upuri un citus upurus, un Ārons un visi Israēla vecajie nāca, lai Dieva priekšā ēstu maizi kopā ar Mozus sievastēvu.
13 No rīta Mozus sēdās tiesāt tautu, un tauta stāvēja Mozus priekšā no rīta līdz vakaram. 14 Un Mozus sievastēvs noskatījās, ko viņš darīja tautai, un teica: “Kas tas ir, ko tu dari tautai? Kāpēc tu sēdi viens pats, bet visa tauta stāv tavā priekšā no rīta līdz vakaram?!” 15 Mozus teica savam sievastēvam: “Šie ļaudis ir nākuši pie manis, lai izjautātu Dievu! 16 Kad tiem ir kāda lieta, tie nāk pie manis, un es spriežu tiesu starp tiem un daru tiem zināmus Dieva likumus un bauslību!” 17 Bet Mozus sievastēvs teica viņam: “Tā nav labi, kā tu dari! 18 Tu ļoti nogursti – gan tu, gan tavi ļaudis, par smagu tev ir šī lieta, tu nevari darīt to viens pats! 19 Tagad uzklausi mani, es došu tev padomu, un Dievs būs ar tevi. Esi tu pats šai tautai priekšstāvis pie Dieva un liec tu viņu lietas Dieva priekšā! 20 Atgādini viņiem likumus un bauslību un dari tiem zināmu ceļu, pa kuru tiem iet, un darbus, kas tiem darāmi. 21 Izraugies no tautas labākos vīrus, kuri bīstas Dieva, patiesīgus vīrus, kuri nīst mantrausību, un iecel viņus pār tautu – virsniekus pār tūkstošiem, pār simtiem, pār piecdesmit un pār desmit! 22 Lai viņi tiesā tautu visu laiku, lai ir tā – katru lielāku lietu lai viņi ceļ tev priekšā, bet katru mazāku lietu lai iztiesā paši. Tev būs vieglāk, ja viņi darīs to kopā ar tevi. 23 Ja tu šādi rīkosies un Dievs tev ko pavēlēs, tad tu varēsi to izpildīt un arī visa tauta ies savās gaitās ar mieru!” 24 Mozus paklausīja savam sievastēvam un darīja visu, ko viņš teica. 25 Mozus izvēlējās labākos vīrus no visa Israēla un iecēla tos par vadītājiem tautai – tie bija virsnieki pār tūkstošiem, pār simtiem, pār piecdesmit un pār desmit. 26 Tie tiesāja tautu visu laiku – grūtākās lietas tie cēla priekšā Mozum, bet vieglākās lietas iztiesāja paši. 27 Tad Mozus atlaida savu sievastēvu, un viņš devās atpakaļ uz savu zemi.
