Exodus 27–28

The Bronze Altar

27“You shall make the ⁿaltar of acacia wood, five cubits¹ long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. ²And you shall make ^ohorns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and ^pyou shall overlay it with bronze. ³You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and ^qforks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. ⁴You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. ⁵And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. ⁶And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. ⁷And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸You shall make it hollow, with boards. ^rAs it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

The Court of the Tabernacle

^9s“You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen a hundred cubits long for one side. ¹⁰Its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹¹And likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings a hundred cubits long, its pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹²And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings for fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten bases. ¹³The breadth of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. ¹⁵On the other side the hangings shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. ¹⁶For the gate of the court there shall be ^ta screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. It shall have four pillars and with them four bases. ¹⁷All the pillars around the court shall be filleted with silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. ¹⁸The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, the breadth fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twined linen and bases of bronze. ¹⁹All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

Oil for the Lamp

^20u“You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. ^21vIn the tent of meeting, ^woutside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

The Priests’ Garments

28“Then bring near to you ^xAaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, ^yNadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^2zAnd you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³You shall speak to all the ^askillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. ⁴These are the garments that they shall make: a ^bbreastpiece, an ^cephod, ^da robe, ^ea coat of checker work, ^ea turban, and ^ea sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. ⁵They shall receive ^fgold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

^6g“And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. ⁷It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. ⁸And the ^hskillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. ⁹You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. ¹²And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And ⁱAaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders ^jfor remembrance. ¹³You shall make settings of gold filigree, ¹⁴and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

^15k“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. ¹⁶It shall be square and doubled, a span¹ its length and a span its breadth. ^17lYou shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius,² topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; ¹⁸and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. ²¹There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. ²²You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. ²³And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. ²⁴And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. ²⁵The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. ²⁶You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁷And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the ^mskillfully woven band of the ephod. ²⁸And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. ²⁹ⁿSo Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular ^oremembrance before the Lord. ³⁰And in the breastpiece of judgment ^pyou shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.

^31q“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. ³²It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment,³ so that it may not tear. ³³On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, ³⁴a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. ³⁵And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

³⁶“You shall make ^ra plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ^s‘Holy to the Lord.’ ³⁷And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. ³⁸It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall ^tbear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.

³⁹“You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.

^40u“For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them ^vfor glory and beauty. ⁴¹And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall ^wanoint them and ordain them and ^xconsecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. ⁴²You shall make for them ^ylinen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; ⁴³and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they ^zbear guilt and die. ^aThis shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.