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| 1 And Jethro the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done to Moses, and to Israel his people; that Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt. |
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| 2 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, |
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| 3 and her two sons, of whom the name of the one was Gershom--for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land, |
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| 4 --and the name of the other, Eliezer--For the God of my father has been my help, and has delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. |
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| 5 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came to Moses with his sons and his wife into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mountain of God. |
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| 6 And he sent word to Moses: I, thy father-in-law Jethro, am come to thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. |
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| 7 And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other after their welfare, and went into the tent. |
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| 8 And Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake; all the trouble that had befallen them on the way, and how Jehovah had delivered them. |
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| 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness that Jehovah had done to Israel; that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. |
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| 10 And Jethro said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. |
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| 11 Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all gods; for in the thing in which they acted haughtily he was above them. |
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| 12 And 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 in the presence of God. |
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| 13 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening. |
Moses sat to judge – Showing that the word "judgment" includes the thought of a trial and a righteous decision based upon that trial. R568:6
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| 14 And Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did with the people, and said, What is this thing which thou art doing with the people? why dost thou sit alone, and all the people are standing by thee from morning to evening? |
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| 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to enquire of God. |
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| 16 When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known to them the statutes of God, and his laws. |
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| 17 And Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that thou art doing is not good. |
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| 18 Thou wilt be quite exhausted, both thou and this people that is with thee; for the thing is too heavy for thee: thou canst not perform it alone. |
Too heavy for thee – Moses, instead of being a designing politician, was really the overworked servant of the people. A47
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| 19 Hearken now to my voice: I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people with God, and bring the matters before God; |
Give thee counsel – Jethro's counsel became the basis of the English and American constitutions, governments "of the people, by the people, for the people." R3037:3
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| 20 and teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. |
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| 21 But do thou provide among all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place them over them, chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens, |
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| 22 that they may judge the people at all times; and it shall be that they shall bring to thee every great matter, and that they shall judge every small matter, and they shall lighten the task on thee, and they shall bear it with thee. |
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| 23 If thou do this thing, and God command thee so, thou wilt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. |
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| 24 And Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. |
So Moses hearkened – God sometimes uses outsiders to instruct his people in some things: wise is the man or woman humble enough to receive such instruction properly. R3037:2
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| 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens. |
Made them heads – During nearly a year at Mt. Sinai, Israel was transformed from a horde of unorganized emigrants into a powerful nation with covenant relationship with God. R4037:1
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| 26 And they judged the people at all times: the hard matters they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged. |
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| 27 And Moses sent away his father-in-law, and he departed into his land. |
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