² For the glorious adornment of your brother Aaron you shall have sacred vestments made. ³ Therefore, tell the various artisans whom I have endowed with skill^[a] to make vestments for Aaron to consecrate him as my priest. ⁴ These are the vestments they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a brocade tunic, a turban, and a sash. In making these sacred vestments which your brother Aaron and his sons are to wear in serving as my priests, ⁵ they shall use gold, violet, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen.

The Ephod and Breastpiece. ⁶ The ephod^[b] they shall make of gold thread and of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, embroidered on cloth of fine linen twined.^{(A) 7} It shall have a pair of shoulder straps joined to its two upper ends. ⁸ The embroidered belt of the ephod shall extend out from it and, like it, be made of gold thread, of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of fine linen twined.

⁹ Get two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: ¹⁰ six of their names on one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ As a gem-cutter engraves a seal, so shall you have the two stones engraved with the names of the sons of Israel and then mounted in gold filigree work. ¹² Set these two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod as memorial stones of the sons of Israel. Thus Aaron shall bear their names on his shoulders as a reminder before the Lord. ¹³ Make filigree rosettes of gold,^{(B) 14} as well as two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, and fasten the cordlike chains to the filigree rosettes.

^15 (C)The breastpiece^[c] of decision you shall also have made, embroidered like the ephod with gold thread and violet, purple, and scarlet yarn on cloth of fine linen twined. ¹⁶ It is to be square when folded double, a span high and a span wide. ^17 [d]On it you shall mount four rows of precious stones: in the first row, a carnelian, a topaz, and an emerald; ¹⁸ in the second row, a garnet, a sapphire, and a beryl; ¹⁹ in the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ in the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. These stones are to be mounted in gold filigree work, ²¹ twelve of them to match the names of the sons of Israel, each stone engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

²² When the chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, have been made for the breastpiece, ²³ you shall then make two rings of gold for it and fasten them to the two upper ends of the breastpiece. ²⁴ The gold cords are then to be fastened to the two rings at the upper ends of the breastpiece, ²⁵ the other two ends of the cords being fastened in front to the two filigree rosettes which are attached to the shoulder straps of the ephod. ²⁶ Make two other rings of gold and put them on the two lower ends of the breastpiece, on its edge that faces the ephod. ²⁷ Then make two more rings of gold and fasten them to the bottom of the shoulder straps next to where they join the ephod in front, just above its embroidered belt. ²⁸ Violet ribbons shall bind the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod, so that the breastpiece will stay right above the embroidered belt of the ephod and not swing loose from it.

²⁹ Whenever Aaron enters the sanctuary, he will thus bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastpiece of decision over his heart as a constant reminder before the Lord. ³⁰ In this breastpiece of decision^(D) you shall put the Urim and Thummim,^[e] that they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus he shall always bear the decisions for the Israelites over his heart in the presence of the Lord.

Other Vestments. ³¹ The robe of the ephod^(E) you shall make entirely of violet material. ³² It shall have an opening for the head in the center, and around this opening there shall be a selvage, woven as at the opening of a shirt, to keep it from being torn. ³³ At the hem at the bottom you shall make pomegranates, woven of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen twined, with gold bells between them; ³⁴ a gold bell, a pomegranate, a gold bell, a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe. ³⁵ Aaron shall wear it when ministering, that its sound may be heard as he enters and leaves the Lord’s presence in the sanctuary; else he will die.

³⁶ You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, as on a seal engraving, “Sacred to the Lord.” ³⁷ This plate is to be tied over the turban with a violet ribbon in such a way that it rests on the front of the turban,^{(F) 38} over Aaron’s forehead. Since Aaron bears whatever guilt the Israelites may incur in consecrating any of their sacred gifts, this plate must always be over his forehead, so that they may find favor with the Lord.

^39 (G)The tunic of fine linen shall be brocaded. The turban shall be made of fine linen. The sash shall be of variegated work.

⁴⁰ Likewise, for the glorious adornment of Aaron’s sons you shall have tunics and sashes and skullcaps made, for glorious splendor. ⁴¹ With these you shall clothe your brother Aaron and his sons. Anoint and install them,^[f] consecrating them as my priests. ⁴² You must also make linen pants for them, to cover their naked flesh from their loins to their thighs.^{(H) 43} Aaron and his sons shall wear them whenever they go into the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary, lest they incur guilt and die. This shall be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants.

Chapter 39

The Priestly Vestments. ¹ With violet, purple, and scarlet yarn were woven the service cloths for use in the sanctuary, as well as the sacred vestments^(A) for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^2 (B)The ephod was woven of gold thread and of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn and of fine linen twined. ³ Gold was first hammered into gold leaf and then cut up into threads, which were woven with the violet, purple, and scarlet yarn into an embroidered pattern on the fine linen. ⁴ Shoulder straps were made for it and joined to its two upper ends. ⁵ The embroidered belt on the ephod extended out from it, and like it, was made of gold thread, of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of fine linen twined, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁶ The onyx stones were prepared and mounted in gold filigree work; they were engraved like seal engravings with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷ These stones were set on the shoulder straps of the ephod as memorial stones of the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^8 (C)The breastpiece was embroidered like the ephod, with gold thread and violet, purple, and scarlet yarn on cloth of fine linen twined. ⁹ It was square and folded double, a span high and a span wide in its folded form. ¹⁰ Four rows of precious stones were mounted on it: in the first row a carnelian, a topaz, and an emerald; ¹¹ in the second row, a garnet, a sapphire, and a beryl; ¹² in the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³ in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree work. ¹⁴ These stones were twelve, to match the names of the sons of Israel, and each stone was engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

^15 (D)Chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, were made for the breastpiece, ¹⁶ together with two gold filigree rosettes and two gold rings. The two rings were fastened to the two upper ends of the breastpiece. ¹⁷ The two gold chains were then fastened to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. ¹⁸ The other two ends of the two chains were fastened in front to the two filigree rosettes, which were attached to the shoulder straps of the ephod. ¹⁹ Two other gold rings were made and put on the two lower ends of the breastpiece, on the edge facing the ephod. ²⁰ Two more gold rings were made and fastened to the bottom of the two shoulder straps next to where they joined the ephod in front, just above its embroidered belt. ²¹ Violet ribbons bound the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod, so that the breastpiece stayed right above the embroidered belt of the ephod and did not swing loose from it. All this was just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Other Vestments. ²² The robe of the ephod was woven entirely of violet yarn, ²³ with an opening in its center like the opening of a shirt, with selvage around the opening to keep it from being torn. ²⁴ At the hem of the robe pomegranates were made of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn and of fine linen twined; ²⁵ bells of pure gold were also made and put between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe: ²⁶ a bell, a pomegranate, a bell, a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe which was to be worn in performing the ministry—all this, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁷ For Aaron and his sons there were also woven tunics of fine linen;^{(E) 28} the turban of fine linen; the ornate skullcaps of fine linen; linen pants of fine linen twined; ²⁹ and sashes of variegated work made of fine linen twined and of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^30 (F)The plate of the sacred diadem was made of pure gold and inscribed, as on a seal engraving: “Sacred to the Lord.” ³¹ It was tied over the turban with a violet ribbon, as the Lord had commanded Moses.