Exodus 28

1 'And thou, bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, 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 thou hast made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for honour and for beauty;

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

3 and thou — thou dost speak unto 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 mitre, and a girdle; yea, they have made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, 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, 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 hath 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 thou hast taken the two shoham stones, and hast opened on them the names of the sons of Israel;

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

10 six of their names on the one 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 in stone, openings of a signet, thou dost open the two stones by the names of the sons of Israel; turned round, embroidered [with] gold, thou dost make them.

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 thou hast set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod — stones of memorial to the sons of Israel — and Aaron hath borne their names before Jehovah, 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 thou hast made embroidered things of gold,

Make ornamental gold settings

14 and two chains of pure gold, wreathed work thou dost make them, work of thick bands, and thou hast put the thick chains on the embroidered things.

and two braided chains of pure gold, and fasten these chains to the settings.

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

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 thou hast set in it settings of stone, 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; embroidered with gold are they 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, openings of a signet, each by his name are they 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 thou hast made on the breastplate wreathed chains, work of thick bands, of pure gold;

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

23 and thou hast made on the breastplate two rings of gold, and hast 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 thou hast 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 the two ends of the two thick bands thou dost put on the two embroidered things, and thou hast put [them] on the shoulders of the ephod over-against 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 thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast set them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its border, which [is] over-against the ephod within;

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 thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast put them on the two shoulders of the ephod, beneath, over-against its front, over-against 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 unto 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 hath borne the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment, on his heart, in his going in unto the sanctuary, for a memorial before Jehovah 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 thou hast put unto the breastplate of judgment the Lights and the Perfections, and they have been on the heart of Aaron, in his going in before Jehovah, and Aaron hath borne the judgment of the sons of Israel on his heart before Jehovah 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 thou hast 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 its head hath been in its midst, a border is to its opening round about, work of a weaver, as the opening of a habergeon there is to it; it is not rent.

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 thou hast made on its hem pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, on its hem round about, and bells of gold in their midst round about;

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, a bell of gold and a pomegranate [are] on the hems of the upper robe round about.

having the gold bells and the pomegranates alternate.

35 'And it hath been on Aaron to minister in, and its sound hath been heard in his coming in unto the sanctuary before Jehovah, and in his going out, and he doth 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 thou hast made a flower of pure gold, and hast opened on it — openings of a signet — 'Holy to Jehovah;'

Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like a seal, “Holy to the Lord.”

37 and thou hast put it on a blue ribbon, and it hath been on the mitre — over-against the front of the mitre it is;

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

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

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 thou hast embroidered the coat of linen, and hast made a mitre of linen, and a girdle thou dost make — 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 for the sons of Aaron thou dost make coats, and thou hast made for them girdles, yea, bonnets thou dost make for them, for honour and for beauty;

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

41 and thou hast clothed Aaron thy brother with them, and his sons with him, and hast anointed them, and hast consecrated their hand, and hast 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 thou for them linen trousers to cover the naked flesh: they are from the loins even unto 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 in unto the tent of meeting, or in their drawing nigh unto the altar to minister in the sanctuary, and they do not bear iniquity nor have they died; a statute age-during 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.