¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law then said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. ^18 (A)You will surely wear out, both yourself and ^[a]these people who are with you, because the ^[b]task is too heavy for you; ^(B)you cannot do it alone. ¹⁹ Now listen to ^[c]me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. ^[d]You be the people’s representative before God, and you ^(C)bring the ^[e]disputes to God, ^20 (D)then admonish them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them ^(E)the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. ²¹ Furthermore, you shall ^[f]select out of all the people ^(F)able men ^(G)who fear God, men of truth, those who ^(H)hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, ^[g]of hundreds, ^[h]of fifties, and ^[i]of tens. ²² Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be ^(I)that they will bring to you every major matter, but they will judge every minor matter themselves. So it will be easier for you, and ^(J)they will carry the burden with you. ²³ If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to ^[j]endure, and all ^[k]these people also will go to ^[l]their places in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened ^[m]to his father-in-law and did everything that he had said. ²⁵ Moses chose ^(K)able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, ^[n]of hundreds, ^[o]of fifties, and ^[p]of tens. ²⁶ Then they judged the people at all times; ^(L)they would bring the difficult matter to Moses, but they would judge every minor matter themselves.

³² So all the work of the ^[a]tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed; and the sons of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did.

^19 [a](A)Go, therefore, and ^(B)make disciples of ^(C)all the nations, ^(D)baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to ^[b]follow all that I commanded you; and behold, ^(E)I am with you ^[c]always, to ^(F)the end of the age.”

Choosing of the Seven

6 Now ^[a]at this time, as the ^(A)disciples were ^(B)increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the ^[b](C)Hellenistic Jews against the native ^(D)Hebrews, because their ^(E)widows were being overlooked in ^(F)the daily serving of food. ² So the twelve summoned the ^[c]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³ Instead, ^(G)brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^(H)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴ But we will ^(I)devote ourselves to prayer and to the ^[d]ministry of the word.” ⁵ The ^[e]announcement found approval with the whole ^[f]congregation; and they chose ^(J)Stephen, a man ^(K)full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^(L)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and ^[g]Nicolas, a ^[h](M)proselyte from ^(N)Antioch. ⁶ And they brought these men before the apostles; and after ^(O)praying, they ^(P)laid their hands on them.

^7 (Q)The word of God kept spreading; and ^(R)the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^(S)the faith.