1 Nå kom det nyheter til Jetro, presten i Midian, svigerfaren til Moses, om alt Gud hadde gjort for Moses og for Israel, hans folk, og hvordan Herren hadde ført Israel ut av Egypt.

Now news came to Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, of all God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, and how the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt.

2 Og Jetro, Moses' svigerfar, tok Sippora, Moses' kone, etter at han hadde sendt henne bort,

And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away,

3 og hennes to sønner, en av dem hette Gersom, for han sa, Jeg har bodd i et fremmed land.

And her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom, for he said, I have been living in a strange land:

4 Og den andre hette Elieser, for han sa, Min fars Gud var min hjelp og beskyttet meg mot faraos sverd.

And the name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, The God of my father was my help, and kept me safe from the sword of Pharaoh:

5 Jetro, Moses' svigerfar, kom med hans sønner og kone til stedet der Moses hadde satt opp sitt telt i ødemarken, ved Guds fjell.

And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to where Moses had put up his tent in the waste land, by the mountain of God.

6 Og han sa til Moses, Jeg, din svigerfar, har kommet til deg med din kone og dine to sønner.

And he said to Moses, I, your father-in-law, have come to you, with your wife and your two sons.

7 Og Moses gikk ut for å møte sin svigerfar, bøyde seg ned og kysset ham; og de spurte hverandre, Står det bra til? og de gikk inn i teltet.

And Moses went out to his father-in-law, and went down on his face before him and gave him a kiss; and they said to one another, Are you well? and they came into the tent.

8 Og Moses fortalte sin svigerfar om alt hva Herren hadde gjort mot farao og egypterne for Israels skyld, om alle vanskelighetene de hadde møtt på veien, og hvordan Herren hadde frelst dem.

And Moses gave his father-in-law an account of all the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians because of Israel, and of all the troubles which had come on them by the way, and how the Lord had given them salvation.

9 Og Jetro gledet seg over at Herren hadde vært god mot Israel og hadde befriet dem fra egypternes hånd.

And Jethro was glad because the Lord had been good to Israel, freeing them from the power of the Egyptians.

10 Og Jetro sa, Lovet være Herren, som har frelst dere fra faraos hånd og egypternes hånd; som har befridd folket fra egypternes åk.

And Jethro said, Praise be to the Lord, who has taken you out of the hand of Pharaoh and out of the hand of the Egyptians; freeing the people from the yoke of the Egyptians.

11 Nå vet jeg at Herren er større enn alle guder, for han har overvunnet dem i deres stolthet.

Now I am certain that the Lord is greater than all gods, for he has overcome them in their pride.

12 Da ofret Jetro, Moses' svigerfar, et brennoffer til Gud, og Aron kom, sammen med lederne i Israel, for å spise med Moses' svigerfar foran Gud.

Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, made a burned offering to God: and Aaron came, with the chiefs of Israel, and had a meal with Moses' father-in-law, before God.

13 Dagen etter satte Moses seg for å dømme folket, og folket ventet på Moses fra morgen til kveld.

Now on the day after, Moses took his seat to give decisions for the people: and the people were waiting before Moses from morning till evening.

14 Da Moses' svigerfar så alt det han gjorde for folket, sa han, Hva er dette du gjør for folket? Hvorfor sitter du alene mens hele folket står rundt deg fra morgen til kveld?

And when Moses' father-in-law saw all he was doing, he said, What is this you are doing for the people? why are you seated here by yourself, with all the people waiting before you from morning till evening?

15 Og Moses sa til sin svigerfar, Fordi folket kommer til meg for å søke råd hos Gud.

And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to get directions from God:

16 Når de har en sak seg imellom, kommer de til meg, og jeg dømmer mellom en mann og hans nabo og gir dem Guds bud og lover.

And if they have any question between themselves, they come to me, and I am judge between a man and his neighbour, and I give them the orders and laws of God.

17 Og Moses' svigerfar sa til ham, Det du gjør er ikke godt.

And Moses' father-in-law said to him, What you are doing is not good.

18 Din styrke og folkets styrke vil bli helt brukt opp: dette arbeidet er mer enn du kan klare alene.

Your strength and that of the people will be completely used up: this work is more than you are able to do by yourself.

19 Hør nå på mitt råd, og må Gud være med deg: Du skal være folkets representant overfor Gud, og bringe deres saker til ham.

Give ear now to my suggestion, and may God be with you: you are to be the people's representative before God, taking their causes to him:

20 Lær dem hans regler og lover, vis dem veien de skal gå, og forklar dem arbeidet de skal gjøre.

Teaching them his rules and his laws, guiding them in the way they have to go, and making clear to them the work they have to do.

21 Men sørg for å finne blant folket flinke menn som frykter Gud, sannferdige menn som hater urettferdig vinning; og sett slike menn over folket som høvdinger over tusen, over hundre, over femti og over ti.

But for the rest, take from among the people able men, such as have the fear of God, true men hating profits wrongly made; and put such men over them, to be captains of thousands, captains of hundreds and of fifties and of tens;

22 La dem dømme i folks saker til enhver tid: la dem bringe de viktige sakene til deg, men småsaker kan de ta beslutninger om selv: på denne måten blir det lettere for deg, og de bærer byrden sammen med deg.

And let them be judges in the causes of the people at all times: and let them put before you all important questions, but in small things let them give decisions themselves: in this way, it will be less hard for you, and they will take the weight off you.

23 Hvis du gjør dette, og Gud godkjenner det, da vil du kunne fortsette uten å bli sliten, og hele folket vil dra hjem i fred.

If you do this, and God gives approval, then you will be able to go on without weariness, and all this people will go to their tents in peace.

24 Så Moses hørte på ordene til sin svigerfar og gjorde som han hadde sagt.

So Moses took note of the words of his father-in-law, and did as he had said.

25 Og han valgte dyktige menn ut av hele Israel og satte dem til å være ledere over folket, høvdinger over tusen, over hundre, over femti og over ti.

And he made selection of able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds and of fifties and of tens.

26 Og de dømte i folks saker til enhver tid: de vanskelige sakene brakte de til Moses; men alle små saker dømte de selv.

And they were judges in the causes of the people at all times: the hard questions they put before Moses; but on every small point they gave decisions themselves.

27 Og Moses lot sin svigerfar dra, og han vendte tilbake til sitt land.

And Moses let his father-in-law go away, and he went back to his land.