The Priestly Garments

28 “Have your brother Aaron, with his sons, come to you from the Israelites to serve Me as priest—Aaron, his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.^{(A) 2} Make holy garments^(B) for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty. ³ You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen,^[a](C) whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make Aaron’s garments for consecrating him to serve Me as priest. ⁴ These are the garments that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a specially woven tunic,^[b] a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve Me as priests. ⁵ They should use^[c] gold; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine linen.

The Ephod

⁶ “They^(D) are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. ⁷ It must have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges so that it can be joined together. ⁸ The artistically woven waistband that is on the ephod^[d] must be of one piece,^[e] according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

⁹ “Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s sons: ¹⁰ six of their names on the first stone and the remaining six names on the second stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ Engrave the two stones with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. Mount them, surrounded with gold filigree settings. ¹² Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites. Aaron will carry their names on his two shoulders before the Lord as a reminder.^{(E) 13} Fashion gold filigree settings ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold; you will make them of braided cord work, and attach the cord chains to the settings.

The Breastpiece

¹⁵ “You^(F) are to make an embroidered breastpiece for making decisions.^[f] Make it with the same workmanship as the ephod; make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. ¹⁶ It must be square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.^{[g] 17} Place a setting of gemstones^[h] on it, four rows of stones:

They should be adorned with gold filigree in their settings. ²¹ The 12 stones are to correspond to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone must be engraved like a seal, with one of the names of the 12 tribes.

²² “You are to make braided chains^[n] of pure gold cord work for the breastpiece. ²³ Fashion two gold rings for the breastpiece and attach them to its two corners. ²⁴ Then attach the two gold cords to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece. ²⁵ Attach the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way attach them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in the front. ²⁶ Make two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam,^[o] and above the ephod’s woven waistband. ²⁸ The craftsmen are to tie the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the ephod’s waistband and does not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹ “Whenever he enters the sanctuary, Aaron is to carry the names of Israel’s sons over his heart on the breastpiece for decisions, as a continual reminder before the Lord. ³⁰ Place the Urim and Thummim^(G) in the breastpiece for decisions, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the Lord. Aaron will continually carry the means of decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.

The Robe

³¹ “You^(H) are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn. ³² There should be an opening at its top in the center of it. Around the opening, there should be a woven collar with an opening like that of body armor^[p] so that it does not tear. ³³ Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn^[q] on its lower hem and all around it. Put gold bells between them all the way around, ³⁴ so that gold bells and pomegranates alternate around the lower hem of the robe. ³⁵ The robe must be worn by Aaron whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters the sanctuary before the Lord and when he exits, so that he does not die.

The Turban

³⁶ “You are to make a pure gold medallion and engrave it, like the engraving of a seal:^(I)

³⁷ Fasten it to a cord of blue yarn so it can be placed on the turban; the medallion is to be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It will be on Aaron’s forehead so that Aaron may bear the guilt^(J) connected with the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate as all their holy gifts. It is always to be on his forehead, so that they may find acceptance with the Lord.

Other Priestly Garments

³⁹ “You are to weave the tunic from fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make an embroidered sash. ⁴⁰ Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons to give them glory and beauty.^{(K) 41} Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint,^(L) ordain,^[r] and consecrate^(M) them, so that they may serve Me as priests. ⁴² Make them linen undergarments^(N) to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist^[s] to the thighs. ⁴³ These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt^(O) and die. This is to be a permanent statute^(P) for Aaron and for his future descendants.

Instructions about Consecration

29 “This is what you are to do for them to consecrate them to serve Me as priests. Take a young bull and two unblemished rams, ² with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour,^{(A) 3} put them in a basket, and bring them in the basket, along with the bull and two rams. ⁴ Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.^{(B) 5} Then take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe for the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastpiece; fasten the ephod on him with its woven waistband.^{(C) 6} Put the turban on his head and place the holy diadem^(D) on the turban. ⁷ Take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint^(E) him. ⁸ You must also bring his sons and clothe them with tunics.

Making the Priestly Garments

39 They made specially woven^[a] garments for ministry in the sanctuary, and the holy garments for Aaron from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(A)

Making the Ephod

² Bezalel^(B) made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. ³ They hammered out thin sheets of gold, and he^[b] cut threads from them to interweave with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and the fine linen in a skillful design. ⁴ They made shoulder pieces for attaching it; it was joined together at its two edges. ⁵ The artistically woven waistband that was on the ephod was of one piece with the ephod, according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ Then they mounted the onyx stones surrounded with gold filigree settings, engraved with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. ⁷ He fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Making the Breastpiece

⁸ He^(C) also made the embroidered breastpiece with the same workmanship as the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. ⁹ They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.^{[c] 10} They mounted four rows of gemstones^[d] on it. The first row was a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;^{[e] 11} the second row, a turquoise,^[f] a sapphire,^[g] and a diamond;^{[h] 12} the third row, a jacinth,^[i] an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³ and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were surrounded with gold filigree in their settings.

¹⁴ The 12 stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the 12 tribes.

¹⁵ They made braided chains of pure gold cord for the breastpiece. ¹⁶ They also fashioned two gold filigree settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to its two corners. ¹⁷ Then they attached the two gold cords to the two gold rings on the corners of the breastpiece. ¹⁸ They attached the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings and, in this way, attached them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in front. ¹⁹ They made two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod. ²⁰ They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam,^[j] above the ephod’s woven waistband. ²¹ Then they tied the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the ephod’s waistband and did not come loose from the ephod. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Making the Robe

²² They^(D) made the woven robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn. ²³ There was an opening in the center of the robe like that of body armor^[k] with a collar around the opening so that it would not tear. ²⁴ They made pomegranates of finely spun blue, purple, and scarlet yarn^[l] on the lower hem of the robe. ²⁵ They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates, ²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe^[m] to be worn for ministry. They made it just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Other Priestly Garments

²⁷ They made the tunics of fine woven linen for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ They also made the turban and the ornate headbands^[n] of fine linen, the undergarments,^{(E) 29} and the sash of finely spun linen of embroidered blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Making the Holy Diadem

³⁰ They also made a medallion, the holy diadem, out of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving on a seal:^(F)

³¹ Then they attached a cord of blue yarn to it in order to mount it on the turban, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.