17 And Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that thou art doing is not good.

18 Thou wilt be quite exhausted, both thou and this people that is with thee; for the thing is too heavy for thee: thou canst not perform it alone.

19 Hearken now to my voice: I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people with God, and bring the matters before God;

20 and teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do.

21 But do thou provide among all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place {them} over them, chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens,

22 that they may judge the people at all times; and it shall be {that} they shall bring to thee every great matter, and that they shall judge every small matter, and they shall lighten {the task} on thee, and they shall bear {it} with thee.

23 If thou do this thing, and God command thee {so}, thou wilt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.

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

18 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 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 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 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 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 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.