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;

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

You must take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel's twelve sons.

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 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 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.

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 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.

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 thou hast made embroidered things of gold,

You must make settings of gold

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

You must make on the breastpiece chains like cords, braided work of pure gold.

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;

You must make two rings of gold for the breastpiece and must attach them to the two ends of the breastpiece.

24 and thou hast 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 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.

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 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;

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 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,

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 thou hast 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 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.

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 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;

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

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 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.

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 thou hast made a flower of pure gold, and hast opened on it — openings of a signet — 'Holy to Jehovah;'

You must make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving on a signet, “Holy to Yahweh.”

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;

You must attach this plate by a blue cord to the front of the turban.

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.

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 thou hast embroidered the coat of linen, and hast made a mitre of linen, and a girdle thou dost make — 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 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;

For Aaron's sons you must make coats, sashes, and headbands for their honor and splendor.

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.

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 thou for them linen trousers to cover the naked flesh: they are from the loins even unto 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 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 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.