If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
Parallel translations
- WEB If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”
- KJV If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
- BSB If you follow this advice and God so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”
- NASB If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their places in peace.”
- NLT If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jethro says that if Moses does this with God's approval, he will endure and the people will go home in peace. Wise, God-sanctioned delegation brings lasting peace.
Overview
Jethro submits his counsel to God's confirmation, recognizing that any plan must accord with the Lord's will. The promised result is endurance for Moses and peace for the people, fruits of ordered, shared leadership. This wisdom shows that God's work prospers through humble counsel and structures that honor both his authority and human limits.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Exod 18:18You 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.
- 1 Sam 8:6–7But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to Yahweh.
- 1 Sam 8:22Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and make them a king.” Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go to your own city.”
- 2 Sam 18:3But the people said, “You shall not go out; for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore now it is better that you are ready to help us out of the city.”
- Gen 21:10–12Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
- Gen 18:33Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
- Gen 30:25When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country.
- 2 Sam 19:39All the people went over the Jordan, and the king went over. Then the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.
- Phil 1:24–25Yet, to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
- Acts 15:2Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
- 2 Sam 21:17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “Don’t go out with us to battle any more, so that you don’t quench the lamp of Israel.”
- Gal 2:2I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
- Exod 16:29Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 18:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.