Exodus 28
1 And do you take to yourself both Aaron your brother, and his sons, even [them] of the children of Israel; so that Aaron, and Nadab and Abiud, and Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron, may minister to me.
Have your brother Aaron come to you, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. They of all the Israelites are to serve me as priests.
2 And you shall make holy apparel for Aaron your brother, for honour and glory.
You are to have holy clothing made for your brother Aaron to make him look splendid and dignified.
3 And speak you to all those who are wise in understanding, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom and perception; and they shall make the holy apparel of Aaron for the sanctuary, in which [apparel] he shall minister to me as priest.
You are to give instructions to all the skilful workers, to those who have received from me their abilities, as to how to make clothing for Aaron's dedication, so that he can serve me as priest.
4 And these are the garments which they shall make: the breast-plate, and the shoulder-piece, and the full-length robe, and the tunic with a fringe, and the tire, and the girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron and his sons to minister to me as priests.
These are the clothes for them to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a pleated tunic, a turban, and a sash. These are the holy clothes they shall make for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they can serve me as priests.
5 And they shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.
The workers are to use gold thread, together with blue, purple, and crimson thread, and finely-spun linen.
6 And they shall make the shoulder-piece of fine linen spun, the woven work of the embroiderer.
They are to make the ephod of finely-woven linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and crimson thread, skillfully worked.
7 It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined together, fastened on the two sides.
Two shoulder pieces are to be attached to the front and back pieces.
8 And the woven work of the shoulder-pieces which is upon it, shall be of one piece according to the work, of pure gold and blue and purple, and spun scarlet and fine twined linen.
The waistband of the ephod is to be one piece made in the same way, using gold thread, with blue, purple, and crimson thread, and with finely-woven linen.
9 And you shall take the two stones, the stones of emerald, and you shall grave on them the names of the children of Israel.
Engrave on two onyx stones the names of the Israelite tribes,
10 Six names on the first stone, and the other six names on the second stone, according to their births.
six names on one stone and six on the other, in birth order.
11 [It shall be] the work of the stone-engraver's are; as the graving of a seal you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel.
Engrave the names on the two stones the same way a jeweler engraves a personal seal. Then place the stones in ornamental gold settings.
12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the shoulder-piece: they are memorial-stones for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel before the Lord on his two shoulders, a memorial for them.
Attach both stones to the shoulder pieces of the ephod as reminders for the Israelite tribes. Aaron is to wear their names on his two shoulders to remind the Israelites that he represents them when he goes into the Lord's presence.
13 And you shall make circlets of pure gold;
Make ornamental gold settings
14 and you shall make two fringes of pure gold, variegated with flowers wreathen work; and you shall put the wreathen fringes on the circlets, fastening them on their shoulder-pieces in front.
and two braided chains of pure gold, and fasten these chains to the settings.
15 And you shall make the oracle of judgement, the work of the embroiderer: in keeping with the ephod, you shall make it of gold, and blue and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen spun.
You are also to make a breastpiece for decisions in the same skilful way as the ephod, to be used in determining the Lord's will. Make it using gold thread, with blue, purple, and crimson thread, and with finely-woven linen.
16 You shall make it square: it shall be double; of a span the length of it, and of a span the breadth.
It has to be square when folded, measuring around nine inches in length and width.
17 And you shall interweave with it a texture of four rows of stone; there shall be a row of stones, a sardius, a topaz, and emerald, the first row.
Attach an arrangement of precious stones in four rows as follows. In the first row carnelian, peridot, and emerald.
18 And the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper.
In the second row turquoise, lapis lazuli, and sardonyx.
19 And the third row, a ligure, an agate, an amethyst:
In the third row jacinth, agate, and amethyst.
20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, and a beryl, and an onyx stone, set round with gold, bound together with gold: let them be according to their row.
In the fourth row topaz, beryl, and jasper. Place these stones in ornamental gold settings.
21 And let the stones of the names of the children of Israel be twelve according to their names, engravings as of seals: let them be for the twelve tribes each according to the name.
Each of the twelve stones will be engraved like a personal seal with the name of one of the twelve Israelites tribes and will represent them.
22 And you shall make on the oracle woven fringes, a chain-work of pure gold.
Make cords of braided chains from pure gold to attach the breastpiece.
23 And Aaron shall take the names of the children of Israel, on the oracle of judgement on his breast; a memorial before God for him as he goes into the sanctuary.
Make two gold rings and fasten them to the two top corners of the breastpiece.
24 And you shall put the fringes on the oracle of judgement; you shall put the wreaths on both sides of the oracle,
Attach the two gold chains to the two gold rings on the corners of the breastpiece,
25 and you shall put the two circlets on both the shoulders of the ephod in front.
and then fasten the opposite ends of the two chains to the ornamental gold settings on the shoulder pieces of the front side of the ephod.
26 And you shall put the Manifestation and the Truth on the oracle of judgement; and it shall be on the breast of Aaron, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judgements of the children of Israel on his breast before the Lord continually.
Make two more gold rings and attach them to the two lower corners of the breastpiece, on the inside edge next to the ephod.
27 And you shall make the full-length tunic all of blue.
Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the front side of the ephod, near where it joins its woven waistband.
28 And the opening of it shall be in the middle having a fringe round about the opening, the work of the weaver, woven together in the joining of the same piece that it might not be tore.
Tie the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue thread, so that the breastpiece won't come loose from the ephod.
29 And under the fringe of the robe below you shall make as it were pomegranates of a flowering pomegranate tree, of blue, and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen spun, under the fringe of the robe round about: golden pomegranates of the same shape, and bells round about between these.
Like this, whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will wear the names of the Israelite tribes over his heart on the breastpiece, as a constant reminder before the Lord.
30 A bell by the side of a golden pomegranate, and flower-work on the fringe of the robe round about.
Place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of decision, so that they too will be over Aaron's heart whenever he comes into the Lord's presence. Aaron will continually carry the means of gaining decisions over his heart before the Lord.
31 And the sound of Aaron shall be audible when he ministers, as he goes into the sanctuary before the Lord, and has he goes out, that he die not.
Make the robe that goes with the ephod exclusively from blue cloth,
32 And you shall make a plate [of] pure gold, and you shall grave on it [as] the graving of a signet, Holiness of the Lord.
with an opening in the middle at the top. Stitch a woven collar around the opening to strengthen it so it won't tear.
33 And you shall put it on the spun blue cloth, and it shall be on the mitre: it shall be in the front of the mitre.
Make pomegranates using blue, purple, and crimson thread and attach them all the way around its hem, with gold bells between them,
34 And it shall be on the forehead of Aaron; and Aaron shall bear away the sins of their holy things, all that the children of Israel shall sanctify of every gift of their holy things, and it shall be on the forehead of Aaron continually acceptable for them before the Lord.
having the gold bells and the pomegranates alternate.
35 And the fringes of the garments [shall be] of fine linen; and you shall make a tire of fine linen, and you shall make a girdle, the work of the embroiderer.
Aaron is to wear the robe whenever he serves, and the sound it makes will be heard when he enters or leaves the sanctuary as he goes into the Lord's presence, so that he won't die.
36 And for the sons of Aaron you shall make tunics and girdles, and you shall make for them tires for honour and glory.
Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like a seal, “Holy to the Lord.”
37 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, and you shall anoint them and fill their hands: and you shall sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.
Attach it to the front of the turban using a blue cord.
38 And you shall make for them linen drawers to cover the nakedness of their flesh; they shall reach from the loins to the thighs.
Aaron will wear it on his forehead, so that he may take responsibility for the guilt of the offerings the Israelites make, and this applies to all their holy gifts. It must always remain on his forehead in order that the people are accepted in the Lord's presence.
39 And Aaron shall have them, and his sons, whenever they enter into the tabernacle of witness, or when they shall advance to the altar of the sanctuary to minister, so they shall not bring sin upon themselves, lest they die: [it is] a perpetual statute for him, and for his seed after him.
Weave the tunic with finely-spun linen and make the turban of the same material, and also make sash and have it embroidered.
Make tunics, sashes, and headdresses for Aaron's sons, so that they will look splendid and dignified.
Put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons and then anoint them and ordain them. Dedicate them so that they can serve me as priests.
Make linen undershorts to cover their bare bodies, reaching from waist to thigh.
Aaron and his sons are to wear them when they enter the Tent of Meeting or when they approach the altar to serve in the Holy Place, so that they will not bring guilt on themselves and die. This is a law for Aaron and his descendants forever.
