¹Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt.

¹Jetro, presten i Midian, Moses' svigerfar, fikk høre alt det Gud hadde gjort for Moses og for sitt folk Israel, hvorledes Herren hadde ført Israel ut av Egypten.

²Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away,

²Da tok Jetro, Moses' svigerfar, Sippora, Moses' hustru, som Moses før hadde sendt hjem,

³and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, “Gershom” sounds like the Hebrew for “an alien there.” for Moses said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land”.

³og hennes to sønner - den ene hette Gersom, for Moses hadde sagt: Jeg er blitt gjest i et fremmed land,

⁴The name of the other was Eliezer, Eliezer means “God is my helper.” for he said, “My father’s God was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.”

⁴og den andre hette Elieser*, for han hadde sagt: Min fars Gud var min hjelp og fridde mig fra Faraos sverd. / {* Gud er hjelp.}

⁵Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the Mountain of God.

⁵Da nu Jetro, Moses' svigerfar, kom med hans sønner og hans hustru til ham i ørkenen, der hvor Moses hadde slått leir, ved Guds berg,

⁶He said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her.”

⁶sendte han bud til Moses og sa: Jeg, din svigerfar Jetro, kommer til dig med din hustru og hennes to sønner.

⁷Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent.

⁷Da gikk Moses sin svigerfar møte, bøide sig for ham og kysset ham, og de spurte hverandre hvorledes det stod til; så gikk de inn i teltet.

⁸Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them.

⁸Og Moses fortalte sin svigerfar alt det Herren hadde gjort med Farao og egypterne for Israels skyld, og all den møie de hadde hatt på veien, og hvorledes Herren hadde hjulpet dem.

⁹Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

⁹Da blev Jetro glad over alt det gode Herren hadde gjort mot Israel, at han hadde fridd dem av egypternes hånd.

¹⁰Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

¹⁰Og Jetro sa: Lovet være Herren, som fridde eder av egypternes hånd Og av Faraos hånd - han som fridde folket av egypternes hånd!

¹¹Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them.”

¹¹Nu vet jeg at Herren er større enn alle guder; for således viste han sig ved det* hvormed egypterne viste sitt overmot mot dette folk. / {* d.e. ved vannet.}

¹²Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all of the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

¹²Og Jetro, Moses' svigerfar, tok og ofret brennoffer og slaktoffer til Gud; og Aron og alle Israels eldste kom og holdt måltid med Moses' svigerfar for Guds åsyn.

¹³It happened on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning to the evening.

¹³Dagen efter satt Moses og skiftet rett mellem folket, og folket stod omkring Moses fra morgen til kveld.

¹⁴When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?”

¹⁴Da Moses' svigerfar så hvor meget han hadde å gjøre for folket, sa han: Hvad er dette for et arbeid du legger på dig for folket? Hvorfor sitter du alene og dømmer mens hele folket står omkring dig fra morgen til kveld?

¹⁵Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

¹⁵Moses svarte sin svigerfar: Folket kommer til mig for å få vite Guds vilje;

¹⁶When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.”

¹⁶når de har en sak, da kommer de til mig, og jeg skifter rett mellem dem og lærer dem Guds bud og lover.

¹⁷Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.

¹⁷Da sa Moses' svigerfar til ham: Det er ikke klokt det du her gjør.

¹⁸You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone.

¹⁸Du må jo bli altfor trett, både du og dette folk som er med dig; for dette arbeid er for svært for dig, du makter ikke å gjøre det alene.

¹⁹Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God.

¹⁹Men hør nu på mig! Jeg vil gi dig et råd, og Gud skal være med dig. Tred du frem for Gud på folkets vegne og legg deres saker frem for ham,

²⁰You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do.

²⁰forklar dem budene og lovene, og lær dem den vei de skal vandre, og den gjerning de skal gjøre.

²¹Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²¹Velg dig så ut duelige menn av hele folket, menn som frykter Gud, troverdige menn, som hater urettferdig vinning, og sett dem til domsmenn over dem, nogen over tusen, nogen over hundre, nogen over femti og nogen over ti!

²²Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you.

²²Og de skal skifte rett mellem folket til enhver tid; enhver stor sak skal de komme til dig med, men enhver liten sak skal de selv dømme i. Således letter du byrden for dig selv, og de bærer den med dig.

²³If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all of these people also will go to their place in peace.”

²³Dersom du gjør dette, og Gud byder dig det, da vil du kunne holde ut, og da vil også alt folket her kunne gå hjem i fred.

²⁴So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.

²⁴Moses lød sin svigerfars råd og gjorde alt det han sa.

²⁵Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²⁵Han valgte ut duelige menn av hele Israel og satte dem til høvdinger over folket, til domsmenn, nogen over tusen, nogen over hundre, nogen over femti og nogen over ti.

²⁶They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard causes to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

²⁶Og de skiftet rett mellem folket til enhver tid; enhver vanskelig sak kom de til Moses med, men i enhver liten sak dømte de selv.

²⁷Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

²⁷Så bad Moses farvel med sin svigerfar, og han drog hjem til sitt eget land.