Exodus 28–29

Chapter 28

Garments of the Priests

¹“Then ^abring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest to Me—Aaron, ^bNadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

²“You shall make ^aholy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

³“You shall speak to all the ^1askillful persons ^bwhom I have endowed with ²the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.

⁴“These are the garments which they shall make: a ^1abreastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister as priest to Me.

⁵“They shall take ^athe gold and the ¹blue and the purple and the scarlet material and the fine linen.

⁶“They shall also make ^athe ephod of gold, of ¹blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful workman.

⁷“It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined.

⁸“The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, ¹of the same material: of gold, of ²blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.

⁹“You 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 ¹other stone, according to their birth.

¹¹“¹As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall ²set them in filigree settings of gold.

¹²“You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall ^abear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders ^bfor a memorial.

¹³“^aYou shall make filigree settings of gold,

¹⁴and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them of twisted cordage work, and you shall put the corded chains on the filigree settings.

¹⁵“^aYou shall make a ¹breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of ²blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen you shall make it.

¹⁶“It shall be square and folded double, a span ¹in length and a span in width.

¹⁷“You shall ¹mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz and emerald;

¹⁸and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and a diamond;

¹⁹and the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst;

²⁰and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be ¹set in gold filigree.

²¹“The stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a seal, each ^aaccording to his name for the twelve tribes.

²²“You shall make on the ¹breastpiece chains of twisted cordage work in pure gold.

²³“You shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece.

²⁴“You shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece.

²⁵“You shall put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it.

²⁶“You shall make two rings of gold and shall place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod.

²⁷“You shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

²⁸“They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a ¹blue cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹“Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

³⁰“^aYou shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the ^1bUrim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

³¹“^aYou shall make the robe of the ephod all of ¹blue.

³²“There shall be an opening ¹at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn.

³³“You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around:

³⁴a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe.

³⁵“It shall be on Aaron ¹when he ministers; and ²its tinkling shall be heard when he enters and ³leaves the holy place before the Lord, so that he will not die.

³⁶“You shall also make ^aa plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘^bHoly to the Lord.’

³⁷“You shall ¹fasten it on a ²blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban.

³⁸“It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall ^1atake away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that ^bthey may be accepted before the Lord.

³⁹“You shall weave ^athe tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a ¹weaver.

⁴⁰“For Aaron’s sons you shall make ^atunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make ^1bcaps for them, for glory and for beauty.

⁴¹“You shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall ^aanoint them and ¹ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve Me as priests.

⁴²“You shall make for them ^alinen breeches to cover their bare flesh; they shall ¹reach from the loins even to the thighs.

⁴³“They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or ^awhen they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur ¹guilt and die. ^bIt shall be a statute forever to him and to his ²descendants after him.

Chapter 29

Consecration of the Priests

¹“^aNow this is ¹what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish,

²and ^aunleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers ¹spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour.

³“You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams.

⁴“Then ^ayou shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

⁵“You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the ^atunic and ^bthe robe of the ephod and ^cthe ephod and ^dthe ¹breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully ^ewoven band of the ephod;

⁶and you shall set the ^aturban on his head and put ^bthe holy crown on the turban.

⁷“Then you shall take ^athe anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

⁸“You shall bring his sons and put ^atunics on them.

⁹“You shall gird them with ^asashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind ¹caps on them, and they shall have ^bthe priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ^2cordain Aaron and his sons.

The Sacrifices

¹⁰“Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall ^alay their hands on the head of the bull.

¹¹“You shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

¹²“You shall ^atake some of the blood of the bull and put it on ^bthe horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.

¹³“You shall ^atake all the fat that covers the entrails and the ¹lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar.

¹⁴“But ^athe flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

¹⁵“^aYou shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram;

¹⁶and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar.

¹⁷“Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them ¹with its pieces and ²its head.

¹⁸“You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: ^ait is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹“Then ^ayou shall take the ¹other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.

²⁰“You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.

²¹“Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the ^aanointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²²“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the ¹lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ²ordination),

²³and one cake of bread and ^aone cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord;

²⁴and you shall put ¹all these ²in the ³hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.

²⁵“^aYou shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

²⁶“Then you shall take ^athe breast of Aaron’s ram of ¹ordination, and wave it as a wave…