Exodus 18

¹And whanne Jetro, the prest of Madian, `the alye of Moises , hadde herd alle thingis which God hadde do to Moises, and to Israel his puple, for the Lord hadde led Israel out of the lond of Egipt,

²he took Sefora, `the wijf of Moises, whom he hadde sent ayen,

³and hise twei sones, of which oon was clepid Gersan, for the fadir seide, Y was a comelyng in alien lond,

⁴forsothe the tother was clepid Eliezer, for Moises seide, God of my fadir is myn helpere, and he delyuerede me fro the swerd of Farao.

⁵Therfor Jetro, `alie of Moises, cam, and the sones of Moises and his wijf camen to Moises, in to deseert, where Jetro settide tentis bisidis the hil of God;

⁶and sente to Moises, and seide, Y Jetro, thin alie, come to thee, and thi wijf, and thi twei sones with hir.

⁷And Moises yede out into the comyng of his alie, and worschipide, and kiste hym, and thei gretten hem silf to gidere with pesible wordis.

⁸And whanne he hadde entrid in to the tabernacle, Moises tolde to `his alie alle thingis whiche God hadde do to Farao, and to Egipcians, for Israel, and he tolde al the trauel which bifelle to hem in the weie, of which the Lord delyuerede hem.

⁹And Jetro was glad on alle the goodis whiche the Lord hadde do to Israel, for he delyuerede Israel fro the hond of Egipcians.

¹⁰And Jetro seide, Blessid be `the Lord, that delyuerede you fro the hond of Egipcians, and fro `the hond of Farao, which Lord delyuered his puple fro the hond of Egipt;

¹¹now Y knowe that the Lord is greet aboue alle goddis, for `thei diden proudli ayens hem.

¹²Therfor Jetro, `alie of Moises, offride brent sacrifices and offryngis to God; and Aaron, and alle the eldere men of Israel, camen to ete breed with hym bifore God.

¹³Forsothe in the tother dai Moises sat that he schulde deme the puple, that stood niy Moises, fro the morewtid til to euentid.

¹⁴And whanne `his alie hadde seyn this, that is, alle thingis `whiche he dide in the puple, he seide, What is this that thou doist in the puple? whi sittist thou aloone, and al the puple abidith fro the morewtid til to euentid?

¹⁵To whom Moises answeride, The puple cometh to me, and axith the sentence of God;

¹⁶and whanne ony strijf bifallith to hem, thei comen to me, that Y deme bitwixe hem, and schewe `the comaundementis of God, and hise lawis.

¹⁷And Jetro seide, Thou doist a thing not good,

¹⁸thou art wastid with a fonned trauel, bothe thou and this puple which is with thee; the werk is a boue thi strengthis, thou aloone maist not suffre it.

¹⁹But here thou my wordis and counseils, and the Lord schal be with thee; be thou to the puple in these thingis that perteynen to God, that thou telle the thingis that ben seid to the puple;

²⁰and schewe to the puple the cerymonyes, and custom of worschipyng, and the weie bi which `thei owen to go, and the werk which `thei owen to do.

²¹Forsothe puruey thou of al the puple myyti men , and dredynge God, in whiche is treuthe, and whiche haten auarice; and ordeyne thou of hem tribunes , and centuriouns, and quinquagenaries, and deenys,

²²whiche schulen deme the puple in al tyme; sotheli what ever thing is grettere, telle thei to thee, and deme thei ooneli lesse thingis, and be it esiere to thee, whanne the burthun is departid in to othere men.

²³If thou schalt do this, thou schalt fille the comaundement of God, and thou schalt mowe bere hise comaundementis; and al this puple schal turne ayen with pees to her places.

²⁴And whanne these thingis weren herd, Moises dide alle thingis whiche Jetro counselide.

²⁵And whanne noble men of al Israel weren chosun Moises ordeynede hem princis of the puple, tribunes, and centuriouns, and quinquagenaries, and denes,

²⁶whiche demeden the puple in al tyme; forsothe, whateuer thing was hardere, thei telden to Moises, and thei demeden esiere thingis oneli.

²⁷And Moises lefte `his alie, which turnede ayen, and yede in to his lond.

Exodus 18

¹When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt;

²Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,

³And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

⁴And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh:

⁵And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:

⁶And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.

⁷And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.

⁸And Moses told his father in law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them.

⁹And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

¹¹Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.

¹²And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.

¹³And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.

¹⁴And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

¹⁵And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:

¹⁶When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.

¹⁷And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.

¹⁸Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

¹⁹Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:

²⁰And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

²¹Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

²²And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

²³If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

²⁴So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

²⁵And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²⁶And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

²⁷And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.