Meditate

18. Jethro Visits Moses

Jethro’s Advice

18

Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.²After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro took her back,³along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been an alien in a foreign land”),⁴and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).⁵Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came into the wilderness where Moses was encamped at the mountain of God, bringing Moses’ sons and wife to him.⁶He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife and her two sons.”⁷Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed down and kissed him; each asked after the other’s welfare, and they went into the tent.⁸Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had beset them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.⁹Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in delivering them from the Egyptians.

¹⁰ Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh.¹¹Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them.”¹²And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

¹³ The next day Moses sat as judge for the people, while the people stood around him from morning until evening.¹⁴When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”¹⁵Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.¹⁶When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make known to them the statutes and instructions of God.”¹⁷Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.¹⁸You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.¹⁹Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You should represent the people before God, and you should bring their cases before God;²⁰teach them the statutes and instructions and make known to them the way they are to go and the things they are to do.²¹You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set such men over them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.²²Let them sit as judges for the people at all times; let them bring every important case to you, but decide every minor case themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.²³If you do this, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their home in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said.²⁵Moses chose able men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.²⁶And they judged the people at all times; hard cases they brought to Moses, but any minor case they decided themselves.²⁷Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went off to his own country.

14. The Weak and the Strong

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.¹¹For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

¹² So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

78. Psalm 78

Psalm 78

God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude

A Maskil of Asaph.

1

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2

I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old,

3

things that we have heard and known,

that our ancestors have told us.

4

We will not hide them from their children;

we will tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

5

He established a decree in Jacob,

and appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach to their children;

6

that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and rise up and tell them to their children,

7

so that they should set their hope in God,

and not forget the works of God,

but keep his commandments;

8

and that they should not be like their ancestors,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation whose heart was not steadfast,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,

turned back on the day of battle.

10

They did not keep God’s covenant,

but refused to walk according to his law.

11

They forgot what he had done,

and the miracles that he had shown them.

12

In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels

in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

13

He divided the sea and let them pass through it,

and made the waters stand like a heap.

14

In the daytime he led them with a cloud,

and all night long with a fiery light.

15

He split rocks open in the wilderness,

and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

16

He made streams come out of the rock,

and caused waters to flow down like rivers.