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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Exodus 18 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/exodus/18.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/exodus/18-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > Exodus 18</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../exodus/17.htm" title="Exodus 17">◄</a> Exodus 18 <a href="../exodus/19.htm" title="Exodus 19">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Jethro Visits Moses</h3><p class="par"><span class="v1_18_1"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.1" class="v1_18_1">1</span>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. </span><span class="v1_18_2"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.2" class="v1_18_2">2</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.18.2!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> So he came to Moses, bringing with him Moses' wife Zipporah, who had been left behind, </span><span class="v1_18_3"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.3" class="v1_18_3">3</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.18.3!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> 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.<a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.18.3!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v1_18_4"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.4" class="v1_18_4">4</span>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.<a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.18.4!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> ) </span><span class="v1_18_5"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.5" class="v1_18_5">5</span>Jethro came with Moses' wife and her two sons into the desert where Moses was camped at the holy mountain. </span><span class="v1_18_6"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.6" class="v1_18_6">6</span>He had sent word to Moses that they were coming, </span><span class="v1_18_7"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.7" class="v1_18_7">7</span>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. </span><span class="v1_18_8"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.8" class="v1_18_8">8</span>Moses told Jethro everything that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> 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 <span class="nd">Lord</span> had saved them. </span><span class="v1_18_9"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.9" class="v1_18_9">9</span>When Jethro heard all this, he was happy </span><span class="v1_18_10"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.10" class="v1_18_10">10</span>and said, “Praise the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, who saved you from the king and the people of Egypt! Praise the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, who saved his people from slavery! </span><span class="v1_18_11"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.11" class="v1_18_11">11</span>Now I know that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is greater than all the gods, because he did this when the Egyptians treated the Israelites with such contempt.” </span><span class="v1_18_12"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.12" class="v1_18_12">12</span>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.</span></p><h3 class="s">The Appointment of Judges</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="DEU 1:9-18">Deuteronomy 1.9-18</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v1_18_13"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.13" class="v1_18_13">13</span>The next day Moses was settling disputes among the people, and he was kept busy from morning till night. </span><span class="v1_18_14"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.14" class="v1_18_14">14</span>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?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v1_18_15"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.15" class="v1_18_15">15</span>Moses answered, “I must do this because the people come to me to learn God's will. </span><span class="v1_18_16"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.16" class="v1_18_16">16</span>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.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v1_18_17"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.17" class="v1_18_17">17</span>Then Jethro said, “You are not doing this right. </span><span class="v1_18_18"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.18" class="v1_18_18">18</span>You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone. </span><span class="v1_18_19"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.19" class="v1_18_19">19</span>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. </span><span class="v1_18_20"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.20" class="v1_18_20">20</span>You should teach them God's commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do. </span><span class="v1_18_21"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.21" class="v1_18_21">21</span>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. </span><span class="v1_18_22"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.22" class="v1_18_22">22</span>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. </span><span class="v1_18_23"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.23" class="v1_18_23">23</span>If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v1_18_24"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.24" class="v1_18_24">24</span>Moses took Jethro's advice </span><span class="v1_18_25"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.25" class="v1_18_25">25</span>and chose capable men from among all the Israelites. He appointed them as leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. </span><span class="v1_18_26"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.26" class="v1_18_26">26</span>They served as judges for the people on a permanent basis, bringing the difficult cases to Moses but deciding the smaller disputes themselves.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v1_18_27"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.18.27" class="v1_18_27">27</span>Then Moses said good-bye to Jethro, and Jethro went back home.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">18.3: </char><char style="fk" closed="false">Gershom: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">This name sounds like the Hebrew for “foreigner.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">18.4: </char><char style="fk" closed="false">Eliezer: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">This name sounds like the Hebrew for “God helps me.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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