Exodus 28–29

Garments for the Priesthood

28“Now take ^aAaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as ^bpriest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: ^cNadab, Abihu, ^dEleazar, and Ithamar. ²And ^eyou shall make ¹holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³So ^fyou shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, ^gwhom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. ⁴And these are the garments which they shall make: ^ha breastplate, ⁱan ²ephod, ^ja robe, ^ka skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and ^la sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.

The Ephod

⁵“They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, ^6mand they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked. ⁷It shall have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. ⁸And the ³intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen.

⁹“Then you shall take two onyx ⁿstones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: ¹⁰six of their names on one stone and six names on the other stone, in order of their ^obirth. ¹¹With the work of an ^pengraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall set them in settings of gold. ¹²And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So ^qAaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders ^ras a memorial. ¹³You shall also make settings of gold, ¹⁴and you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to the settings.

The Breastplate

^15s“You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it. ¹⁶It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width. ^17tAnd you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a ⁴sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; ¹⁸the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹the third row, a ⁵jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰and the fourth row, a ⁶beryl, an ⁷onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings. ²¹And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes.

²²“You shall make chains for the breastplate at the end, like braided cords of pure gold. ²³And you shall make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ²⁴Then you shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate; ²⁵and the other two ends of the two braided chains you shall fasten to the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front.

²⁶“You shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the ephod. ²⁷And two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the seam above the ⁸intricately woven band of the ephod. ²⁸They shall bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a blue cord, so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹“So Aaron shall ^ubear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. ³⁰And ^vyou shall put in the breastplate of judgment the ⁹Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

Other Priestly Garments

^31w“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. ³²There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. ³³And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: ³⁴a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. ³⁵And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die.

^36x“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet:

HOLINESS TO THE LORD

³⁷And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. ³⁸So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may ^ybear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their ¹holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be ^zaccepted before the Lord.

³⁹“You shall ^askillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work.

^40b“For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make ²hats for them, for glory and ^cbeauty. ⁴¹So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall ^danoint them, ^econsecrate them, and ³sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests. ⁴²And you shall make ^ffor them linen trousers to cover their ⁴nakedness; they shall ⁵reach from the waist to the thighs. ⁴³They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near ^gthe altar to minister in the holy place, that they ^hdo not incur ⁶iniquity and die. ⁱIt shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.

Aaron and His Sons Consecrated

29“And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: ^aTake one young bull and two rams without blemish, ²and ^bunleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil (you shall make them of wheat flour). ³You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.

⁴“And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, ^cand you shall wash them with water. ^5dThen you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with ^ethe intricately woven band of the ephod. ^6fYou shall put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷And you shall take the anointing ^goil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. ⁸Then ^hyou shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ⁹And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. ⁱThe priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall ^jconsecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰“You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and ^kAaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ¹²You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on ^lthe horns of the altar with your finger, and ^mpour all the blood beside the base of the altar. ¹³And ⁿyou shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴But ^othe flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

^15p“You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall ^qput their hands on the head of the ram; ¹⁶and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and ^rsprinkle it all around on the altar. ¹⁷Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. ¹⁸And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a ^sburnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

^19t“You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. ²¹And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of ^uthe anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and ^vhe and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²²“Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), ^23wone loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; ²⁴and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall ^xwave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ^25yYou shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

²⁶“Then you shall take ^zthe breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave…