Exodus 18:17-26

Expanded Bible

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “·You are not doing this right [^LWhat you are doing is not good]. ¹⁸ You and the people who ·come to you [^Lare with you] will ·get too tired [wear out]. ·This is too much work for you [^LThe matter is too heavy for you]; you can’t do it by yourself. ¹⁹ Now listen to me, and I will give you some advice. I want God to be with you. You must speak to God for the people and tell him about their ·disagreements [cases]. ²⁰ Warn them about the ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and ·teachings [instructions; laws], and ·teach [make known to] them the ·right way to live [^Lway they should go] and what they should do. ²¹ But choose some ·capable [virtuous; noble] men from among the people—men who ·respect [fear] God [Prov. 1:7], who can be trusted, and who ·will not change their decisions for money [^Lhate dishonest profit]. Make these men officers over the people, to rule over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²² Let these officers ·solve the disagreements [consider cases; judge] among the people all the time. They can bring the ·hard [^Lbig] cases to you, but they can ·decide [judge] the ·simple [^Lsmall] cases themselves. That will make it easier for you, because they will share the work with you. ²³ If you do this as God commands you, then you will be able to do your job, and all the people will go ·home [to their place] ·with their disagreements solved [^Lin peace].”

²⁴ So Moses listened to [^Lthe voice of] his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ He ·chose [selected] ·capable [virtuous; noble] men from all the Israelites and made them ·leaders [heads] over the people; they were officers over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²⁶ These officers ·solved disagreements among [judged] the people all the time. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but they ·decided [judged] the ·simple [^Lsmall] cases themselves.