Read the passage

Exodus 18:17-18

World English Bible

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

What surrounds this passage

In Exodus 18, Moses is settling every dispute himself from morning to evening. His father-in-law watches a full day of it and says the arrangement will wear him out. What follows in the chapter is the work being shared.

The verses on either side

Exodus 18:14-21, World English Bible

When 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?”
Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
When 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.”
Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.
You 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.
Listen 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.
You 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.
Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which 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.

A question to sit with

What are you carrying alone that was never meant to be one person’s job?

Why this one, and not these

3 passages were considered for this and turned down, each for a reason written at the time.

Isaiah 40:31: It promises renewed strength to those who wait. Offered to somebody already depleted it reads as an instruction to hold on, and as a promise that may not arrive on the timescale they need.
Galatians 6:9: It tells the reader not to grow weary in doing good. That is close to telling a burned-out person to keep going, which is the advice they have already taken too far.
Matthew 11:28-30: A strong passage for this experience, but it is the reviewed passage for anxiety. Reusing it would blur two records that are meant to answer different disclosures.

Written about this passage

Bible Verses for First Responders: Between Calls, After the One That Stays With You, and for the Family at Home
A prayer for between calls, Exodus 18 for the long years, Scripture after a hard call, and help by country, for police, fire, ambulance and call handlers.
Bible Verses for Overwhelmed Moms: When It Is Too Much for One Person
Exodus 18:17-18 for a load too heavy for one person, Isaiah 40:11 for those with young, short passages for a quiet minute, and help for the weeks after a birth.
Bible Verses for Teachers: For Sunday Night Marking, the Last Week of Term, and the Card
Exodus 18 for a teacher carrying too much alone, the teachers Scripture names for the end of term, and words for a thank-you card.
Bible Verses for Work Burnout: The Passage Where Someone Else Says It First
In Exodus 18 an outsider watches Moses work a full day alone and says the arrangement is the problem. For people who cannot simply leave the job.
What Does the Bible Say About Burnout? Moses, Elijah and a Day of Rest
What the Bible says about burnout: Moses told the load is too heavy, Elijah fed and left to sleep, the Sabbath, and what Christian traditions teach about rest.

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