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.
لقاء موسى ويثرون
1 وسمِعَ يَثْرونُ كاهنُ مِديانَ وحَمُو موسى بكلِّ ما عمِلَ الرّبُّ لموسى ولإِسرائيلَ شعبِهِ حينَ أخرجَهُم مِنْ مِصْرَ. 2 وكانَ يَثْرونُ استرجَعَ ابنَتَهُ صَفُّورةَ امرأةَ موسى 3 وابنَيها اللّذَينِ سَمَّى موسى أحدَهُما جَرشومَ وقالَ: «لأنِّي كنتُ نزيلا في أرضٍ غريـبَةٍ»، 4 وسَمَّى الآخرَ أليعازَرَ وقالَ: «لأنَّ إلهَ أبـي نصَرَني وأنقَذَني مِنْ سيفِ فِرعَونَ». 5 فجاءَ يَثْرونُ بهؤلاءِ إلى موسى في البرِّيَّةِ حيثُ كانَ نازلا عِندَ جبَلِ اللهِ. 6 ولمَّا قيلَ لموسى: «ها حَمُوكَ يَثْرونُ قادِمٌ إليكَ معَ امرَأتِكَ وابنَيكَ، 7 خرجَ موسى للقائِهِ وسجدَ وقبَّلهُ. واستَفسَرَ كُلُّ واحدٍ مِنهُما عَنْ سلامَةِ الآخَرِ ودَخَلا إلى الخَيمَةِ. 8 وقَصَّ موسى على حَميّهِ جميعَ ما فعلَ الرّبُّ بفِرعَونَ والمِصْريِّينَ منْ أجلِ بَني إِسرائيلَ، وجميعَ ما نالَهُم مِنَ المَشقَّةِ في الطَّريقِ، وكيفَ أنقَذَهُمُ الرّبُّ. 9 فسُرَّ يَثْرونُ بما عمِلَه الرّبُّ لبَني إِسرائيلَ مِنْ إحسانٍ فائقٍ، حينَ أنقذَهُم مِنْ أيدي المِصْريِّينَ، 10 وقالَ يَثْرونُ: «تَباركَ الرّبُّ الّذي نجَّاكُم مِنْ أيدي المِصْريِّينَ ومِنْ يَدِ فِرعَونَ. تَباركَ الرّبُّ الّذي نجَّى شعبَهُ مِنْ تَحتِ أيدي المِصْريِّينَ، 11 الآنَ علِمتُ أنَّ الرّبَّ أعظمُ مِنْ جميعِ الآلهَةِ، لأنَّه صنَعَ هذا بالمِصْريِّينَ حينَ طغَوا علَيكُم».
12 وقدَّمَ يَثْرونُ مُحرقَةً وذبائِـحَ للهِ. وجاءَ هرونُ وجميعُ شُيوخِ بَني إِسرائيلَ لِـيأكلوا معَهُ أمامَ مذبَحِ اللهِ.
تعيـين القضاة
13 وجلسَ موسى في اليومِ الثَّاني ليَقضيَ للشَّعبِ، فوقفَ الشَّعبُ أمامَهُ مِنَ الصَّباحِ إلى المساءِ. 14 فلمَّا رأى يَثْرونُ كُلَّ ما كانَ على موسى أنْ يفعَلَه لِلشَّعبِ قالَ لَه: «ما هذا؟ وما بالُكَ جالسا وحدَكَ لِتَقضيَ لجميعِ الشَّعبِ وهُمْ واقِفونَ أمامَكَ مِنَ الصَّباحِ إلى المساءِ؟» 15 فأجابَهُ موسى: «يجيءُ إليَّ الشَّعبُّ ليعلَموا إرادةَ اللهِ. 16 إذا كانَت لهُم دعوى يجيئونَ فأقضي بَينَ الفريقَينِ وأُعَرِّفُهُم فرائِضَ اللهِ وشرائِعَهُ». 17 فقالَ يَثْرونُ لموسى: «لا خيرَ في ما تعمَلُ. 18 فأنتَ تُتعِبُ نفْسَكَ وتُتعِبُ هذا الشَّعبَ معَكَ، لأنَّ الحِمْلَ أثقَلُ منْ أنْ تَحمِلَهُ وحدَكَ. 19 والآنَ اسْمَعْ نصيحَتي فيكونَ اللهُ معَكَ: كُنْ أنتَ وسيطا للشَّعبِ عِندَ اللهِ ترفعُ إليهِ دعاوِيَهُم، 20 وتُعلِنُ لهُمُ الفَرائِضَ والشَّرائِعَ، وتُعَرِّفُهُمُ الطَّريقَ الّذي يسلُكونَهُ والنَّهْجَ الّذي ينهَجونَه. 21 واختَرْ مِنَ الشَّعبِ كُلِّهِ رِجَالا أكْفَاءَ يخافونَ اللهَ وأُمنَاءَ يكرَهونَ الرَّشوةَ، ووَلِّهِم على الشَّعبِ رؤساءَ ألوفٍ ومئاتٍ وخَماسينَ وعَشَراتٍ 22 يَقضونَ للشَّعبِ في كُلِّ وقتٍ ويرفعونَ إليكَ كُلَّ أمرٍ خطيرٍ ويحكمونَ هُم في كُلِّ أمرٍ صغيرٍ، فيحمِلونَ الحِمْلَ معَكَ ويُخَفِّفونَ عَنكَ. 23 فإنْ أنتَ عمِلْتَ هكذا وأمَرَكَ اللهُ بهِ. أمكنَكَ الاحتِمالُ، وجميعُ هذا الشَّعبِ ينصَرفونَ إلى بُيوتِهِم بسلامٍ».
24 فسمِعَ موسى مِنْ يَثْرونَ حَميِّهِ وعمِلَ بكُلِّ ما قالَ لَه. 25 فاخْتارَ رِجالا أكْفَاءَ مِنْ جميعِ بَني إِسرائيلَ وَوَلاَّهُم على الشَّعبِ رؤساءَ ألوفٍ ومئاتٍ وخَماسينَ وعَشَراتٍ. 26 فكانوا يَقضونَ للشَّعبِ في كُلِّ وقتٍ، وكُلِّ دعوى صعبةٍ يرفعونَهَا إلى موسى، وكلِّ دعوى بسيطةٍ يحكُمونَ هُم فِـيها.
27 ثمَّ ودَّعَ يَثْرونُ موسى ورجَعَ إلى أرضِهِ.