¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When 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, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because ^(A)the people come to me to inquire of God; ^16 (B)when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I ^(C)make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. ^(D)You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹ Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall ^(E)represent the people before God and ^(F)bring their cases to God, ²⁰ and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know ^(G)the way in which they must walk and ^(H)what they must do. ²¹ Moreover, look for ^(I)able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² And ^(J)let them judge the people at all times. ^(K)Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will ^(L)bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, God will direct you, you will be ^(M)able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ^25 (N)Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ And ^(O)they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. ^(A)And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. ²⁵ Then ^(B)the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.

²⁶ Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they ^(C)had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ And ^(D)Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, ^(E)stop them.” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^(F)Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

Justice

¹⁸ “You shall appoint ^(A)judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ^19 (B)You shall not pervert justice. ^(C)You shall not show partiality, ^(D)and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. ²⁰ Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges

⁸ “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to ^(A)the place that the Lord your God will choose. ^9 (B)And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and ^(C)they shall declare to you the decision. ¹⁰ Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the Lord will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. ¹¹ According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. ¹² The man who ^(D)acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest ^(E)who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So ^(F)you shall purge the evil from Israel.