Moses and the Israelites were camping in the wilderness near the mountain of God. Moses’ wife’s father, Jethro, lived nearby. He had heard about the Israelites’ escape from Egypt. Moses’ family was staying with Jethro, and they all came to the wilderness to see Moses. Jethro sent a message to Moses. “I’m coming to see you,” he said. “Your wife and sons are with me.” Moses welcomed Jethro and invited him into his tent. He told Jethro about everything God had done for the Israelites—how God had punished the Egyptians and stopped their evil king, and how God provided for His people and kept them safe. Jethro praised God! The next day, Moses sat down to listen to the people who had problems and tell them what to do. The people stood around all day, waiting for their turn to talk to Moses. Jethro asked Moses, “Why are you the only one judging the people?” Moses said, “The people want answers. I listen to their problems and tell them what God’s laws are.” “This is not good,” Jethro said. “This job is too big for one person.” Then Jethro gave Moses some advice: “You can be the person who speaks to God for the Israelites. Teach the people God’s laws. Show them how to live. Tell them what God wants them to do. But choose good men from all the people to be leaders too. They can judge the people’s less important cases and bring the most important ones to you. This way, you won’t get worn out from doing everything by yourself, and the people will be happy because they don’t have to stand around all day to get an answer.” So Moses took Jethro’s advice. He chose men from all of Israel and made them leaders over the people. They judged the smaller cases and brought the big cases to Moses. Then Jethro returned to his own land.