Listen now to my voice is too literal, so New Revised Standard Version has improved it: “Now listen to me.” I will give you counsel is literally “I will advise you [singular].” Good News Translation combines these two clauses into one: “Now let me give you some good advice.” And God be with you! in English is a wish or a blessing. New International Version has “and may God be with you.” The Hebrew form, however, may also be understood as an assurance or promise, “and God will be with you” (Good News Translation), or it may express purpose, “that God may be with you” (New American Bible). However, the idea of an assurance seems to be closer to what Jethro would intend. It is possible to reorder the clauses as follows: “If you follow my advice, God will be with you.”

You shall represent the people before God is a command, “You [singular], you be for the people in front of God.” New Revised Standard Version has “You should represent the people before God,” and New International Version has “You must be the people’s representative before God.” Since this is what Moses was already trying to do, Good News Translation has “It is right for you to represent the people before God,” and Translator’s Old Testament has “You must continue to be the people’s representative before God.” It is also possible to say “You should be the one to speak to God for the people” (Contemporary English Version).

And bring their cases to God is literally “and you will cause the disputes [davar is plural] to come unto God.” (See verse 16 and the comment.) The pronoun their is not in the Hebrew, but the context implies it. New American Bible interprets davar here to mean “words” rather than cases or “disputes”: “bringing to him whatever they have to say.” This is possible, but the repeated use of this word suggests the meaning of “disputes” (see Good News Translation).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• If you follow my advice, God will be with you. You should be the person who speaks to God for the people, telling him what they are disputing [or, arguing] about.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .