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;

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

You are to have holy clothing made for your brother Aaron to make him look splendid and dignified.

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 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 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 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 take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the linen,

The workers are to use gold thread, together with blue, purple, and crimson thread, and finely-spun 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-woven linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and crimson thread, skillfully worked.

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

Two shoulder pieces are to be attached to the front and back pieces.

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.

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

Engrave on two onyx stones the names of the Israelite tribes,

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

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 on the two stones the same way a jeweler engraves a personal seal. Then place the stones in ornamental gold 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.

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 have made filigrees of gold,

Make ornamental gold 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 braided chains of pure gold, and fasten 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 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 it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth.

It has to be square when folded, measuring around nine inches in length and width.

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;

Attach an arrangement of precious stones in four rows as follows. In the first row carnelian, peridot, and emerald.

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

In the second row turquoise, lapis lazuli, and sardonyx.

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

In the third row jacinth, agate, and amethyst.

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

In the fourth row topaz, beryl, and jasper. Place these stones in ornamental gold 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.

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

Make cords of braided chains from pure gold to attach the breastpiece.

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;

Make two gold rings and fasten them to the two top 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;

Attach the two gold chains to the two gold rings on 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 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 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 two lower 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 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

Make the robe that goes with the ephod exclusively from 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 in the middle at the top. Stitch a woven collar around the opening to strengthen it so it won't 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 using blue, purple, and crimson thread and attach them all the way around its 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.

having the gold bells and the pomegranates alternate.

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

Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like 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;

Attach it to the front of the turban using a blue cord.

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.

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

Weave the tunic with finely-spun linen and make the turban of the same material, and also make sash and have it embroidered.

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 headdresses for Aaron's sons, so that they will look splendid and dignified.

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.

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.

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

Make linen undershorts to cover their bare bodies, reaching 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 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.