Exodus 28

1 “And you, bring your brother Aaron near to you, and his sons with him, from the midst of the sons of Israel, for his being priest to Me, [even] Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, sons of Aaron;

“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

2 and you have made holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty;

Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor.

3 and you speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled [with] a spirit of wisdom, and they have made the garments of Aaron to sanctify him for his being priest to Me.

You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make garments for Aaron’s consecration, so that he may serve Me as priest.

4 And these [are] the garments which they make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and an upper robe, and an embroidered coat, a turban, and a girdle; indeed, they have made holy garments for your brother Aaron, and for his sons, for his being priest to Me.

These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.

5 And they take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the linen,

They shall use gold, along with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.

6 and have made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, the work of a designer;

They are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.

7 it has two shoulders joining at its two ends, and it is joined.

It shall have two shoulder pieces attached at two of its corners, so it can be fastened.

8 And the girdle of his ephod which [is] on him, according to its work, is of the same, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.

And the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod must be of one piece, of the same workmanship—with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen.

9 And you have taken the two shoham stones, and have engraved the names of the sons of Israel on them;

Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel:

10 six of their names on the first stone, and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their births;

six of their names on one stone and the remaining six on the other, in the order of their birth.

11 the work of an engraver of stone, [as] engravings of a signet—you engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones; encompassing, you make them [with] filigrees of gold.

Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings.

12 And you have set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod—stones of memorial to the sons of Israel—and Aaron has borne their names before YHWH, on his two shoulders, for a memorial.

Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.

13 And you have made filigrees of gold,

Fashion gold filigree settings

14 and you make them [with] two chains of pure gold [as] wreathed work, work of thick bands, and you have put the thick chains on the filigrees.

and two chains of pure gold, made of braided cord work; and attach these chains to the settings.

15 And you have made a breastplate of judgment, the work of a designer; you make it according to the work of the ephod; you make it of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen;

You are also to make a breastpiece of judgment with the same workmanship as the ephod. Construct it with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen.

16 it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth.

It must be square when folded over double, a span long and a span wide.

17 And you have set settings of stone in it, four rows of stone: a row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle [is] the first row;

And mount on it a setting of gemstones, four rows of stones: In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald;

18 and the second row [is] emerald, sapphire, and diamond;

in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;

19 and the third row [is] opal, agate, and amethyst;

in the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

20 and the fourth row [is] beryl, and onyx, and jasper; they are embroidered with gold in their settings,

and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount these stones in gold filigree settings.

21 and the stones are according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, [as] engravings of a signet, each with his name; they are for the twelve tribes.

The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

22 And you have made wreathed chains on the breastplate, [the] work of thick bands of pure gold;

For the breastpiece, make braided chains like cords of pure gold.

23 and you have made two rings of gold on the breastplate, and have put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate;

You are also to make two gold rings and fasten them to the two corners of the breastpiece.

24 and you have put the two thick bands of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate;

Then fasten the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece,

25 and you put the two ends of the two thick bands on the two filigrees, and you have put [them] on the shoulders of the ephod toward the front of its face.

and fasten the other ends of the two chains to the two filigree settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front.

26 And you have made two rings of gold, and have set them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its border, which [is] toward the side of the ephod within it;

Make two more gold rings and attach them to the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the inside edge next to the ephod.

27 and you have made two rings of gold, and have put them on the two shoulders of the ephod, from beneath, in front of its face, close by its joining, above the girdle of the ephod,

Make two additional gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on its front, near its seam just above its woven waistband.

28 and they bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a ribbon of blue, to be above the girdle of the ephod, and the breastplate is not loosed from the ephod.

The rings of the breastpiece shall be tied to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the waistband of the ephod and does not swing out from the ephod.

29 And Aaron has borne the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment, on his heart, in his going into the holy place, for a memorial before YHWH continually.

Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he shall bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of judgment, as a continual reminder before the LORD.

30 And you have put the Lights and the Perfections into the breastplate of judgment, and they have been on the heart of Aaron, in his going in before YHWH, and Aaron has borne the judgment of the sons of Israel on his heart before YHWH continually.

And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD.

31 And you have made the upper robe of the ephod completely of blue,

You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth,

32 and the opening for his head has been in its midst; there is a border for its opening all around—the work of a weaver—[and] there is as the opening of a [linen] habergeon for it; it is not torn.

with an opening at its top in the center. Around the opening shall be a woven collar with an opening like that of a garment, so that it will not tear.

33 And you have made on its hem pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, on its hem all around, and bells of gold in their midst all around;

Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all the way around the lower hem, with gold bells between them,

34 a bell of gold and a pomegranate [and] a bell of gold and a pomegranate [are] on the hems of the upper robe all around.

alternating the gold bells and pomegranates around the lower hem of the robe.

35 And it has been on Aaron to minister in, and its sound has been heard in his coming into the holy place before YHWH, and in his going out, and he does not die.

Aaron must wear the robe whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters or exits the sanctuary before the LORD, so that he will not die.

36 And you have made a flower of pure gold, and have engraved engravings of a signet on it: Holy to YHWH;

You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

37 and you have put it on a blue ribbon, and it has been on the turban—it is toward the front of the face of the turban;

Fasten to it a blue cord to mount it on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban.

38 and it has been on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron has borne the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel hallow, even all their holy gifts; and it has been on his forehead continually for a pleasing thing for them before YHWH.

And it will be worn on Aaron’s forehead, so that he may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be acceptable before the LORD.

39 And you have embroidered the coat of linen, and have made a turban of linen, and you make a girdle—the work of an embroiderer.

You are to weave the tunic with fine linen, make the turban of fine linen, and fashion an embroidered sash.

40 And you make coats for the sons of Aaron, and you have made girdles for them, and you make caps for them, for glory and for beauty;

Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons, to give them glory and splendor.

41 and you have clothed your brother Aaron with them, and his sons with him, and have anointed them, and have consecrated their hand, and have sanctified them, and they have been priests to Me.

After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests.

42 And make linen trousers for them to cover the naked flesh; they are from the loins even to the thighs;

Make linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh, extending from waist to thigh.

43 and they have been on Aaron and on his sons in their going into the Tent of Meeting, or in their drawing near to the altar to minister in the holy place, and they do not bear iniquity nor have they died; [it is] a continuous statute to him and to his seed after him.”

Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants.