< 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;
Call to yourself Aaron your brother and his sons—Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar—from among the Israelites so that they may serve me as priests.
2 and you have made holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty;
You must make for Aaron, your brother, garments that are set apart to me. These garments will be for his honor 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 must speak to all people who are wise in heart, those whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, so that they may make Aaron's garments to set him apart to serve me as my 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.
The garments that they must make are a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of woven work, a turban, and a sash. They must make these garments that are set them apart to me. They will be 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,
Craftsmen must use fine linen that is gold, blue, purple, and scarlet.
6 and have made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, the work of a designer;
They must make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine-twined linen. It must be the work of a skillful craftsman.
7 it has two shoulders joining at its two ends, and it is joined.
It must have two shoulder pieces attached to its two upper corners.
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.
Its finely-woven waistband must be like the ephod; it must be made of one piece with the ephod, made of fine twined linen that is gold, blue, purple, and scarlet.
9 And you have taken the two shoham stones, and have engraved the names of the sons of Israel on them;
You must take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel's twelve sons.
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 must be on one stone, and six names must be on the other stone, in order of the sons' 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.
With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engraving on a signet, you must engrave the two stones with the names of Israel's twelve sons. You must mount the stones in settings of gold.
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.
You must put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, to be stones to remind Yahweh of Israel's sons. Aaron will carry their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders as a reminder to him.
13 And you have made filigrees of gold,
You must make settings of gold
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 like cords, and you must attach the 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 must make a breastpiece for decision making, the work of a skillful workman, fashioned like the ephod. Make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine linen.
16 it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth.
It is to be square. You must fold the breastpiece double. It must be one span long and one 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;
You must place in it four rows of precious stones. The first row must have a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet.
18 and the second row [is] emerald, sapphire, and diamond;
The second row must have an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
19 and the third row [is] opal, agate, and amethyst;
The third row must have 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,
The fourth row must have a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper. They must be mounted in 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.
The stones must be arranged by the names of Israel's twelve sons, each in order by name. They must be like the engraving on a signet ring, each name standing for one of the twelve tribes.
22 And you have made wreathed chains on the breastplate, [the] work of thick bands of pure gold;
You must make on the breastpiece chains like cords, braided work 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 must make two rings of gold for the breastpiece and must attach them to the two ends of the breastpiece.
24 and you have put the two thick bands of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate;
You must attach the two golden chains to the two 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.
You must attach the other ends of the two braided chains to the two settings. Then you must attach those to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at its 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;
You must make two rings of gold, and you must put them on the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the edge next to the inner border.
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,
You must make two more gold rings, and you must attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the front of the ephod, close to its seam above the finely-woven waistband of the ephod.
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.
They must tie the breastpiece by its rings to the ephod's rings with a blue cord, so that it might be attached just above the ephod's woven waistband. This is so that the breastpiece might not become unattached 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.
When Aaron goes into the holy place, he must carry the names of the people of Israel over his heart in the breastpiece for decision making, as a continuing memorial before Yahweh.
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.
You are to put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece for decision making, so they may be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before Yahweh. Thus Aaron will always carry the means for making decisions for the people of Israel over his heart before Yahweh.
31 And you have made the upper robe of the ephod completely of blue,
You will make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue fabric.
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.
It must have an opening for the head in the middle. The opening must have a woven edge round about so that it does not tear. This must be the work of a weaver.
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;
On the bottom hem, you must make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all around. Gold bells must be between them all around.
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.
There must be a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate—and so on—all around the 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.
The robe is to be on Aaron when he serves, so that its sound can be heard when he goes into the holy place before Yahweh and when he leaves. This is so that he does 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 must make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving on a signet, “Holy to Yahweh.”
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;
You must attach this plate by a blue cord to 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.
It must be on Aaron's forehead; he must always bear any guilt that might attach to the offering of the holy gifts that the Israelites set apart to Yahweh. The turban must be always on his forehead so that Yahweh may accept their gifts.
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 must make the coat with fine linen, and you must make a turban of fine linen. You must also make a sash, the work of an embroiderer.
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;
For Aaron's sons you must make coats, sashes, and headbands for their honor 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.
You must clothe Aaron your brother, and his sons with him. You must anoint them, ordain them, and set them apart to me, 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;
You must make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh, that will cover them from the waist to the thighs.
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 these garments when they enter the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to serve in the holy place. They must do this so they would not be guilty or else they would die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants after him.