Deuteronomy 1:9-18

The Appointment of Judges

⁹ And I spoke unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone. ¹⁰ Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. ¹¹ Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as he hath said unto you! ¹² How can I myself alone sustain your wear, and your burden, and your strife? ¹³ Provide you wise and understanding and known men, according to your tribes, that I may make them your chiefs. ¹⁴ And ye answered me, and said, The thing that thou hast spoken is good [for us] to do. ¹⁵ So I took the chiefs of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them chiefs over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers for your tribes. ¹⁶ And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and him also that sojourneth with him. ¹⁷ Ye shall not respect persons in judgment: ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the matter that is too hard for you shall ye bring to me, that I may hear it. ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things that ye should do.