Exodus
Chapter 28
1 Choose your brother Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, from the Israelites to serve me as priests.
2 Make special clothes for your brother Aaron that are beautiful and glorious.
3 You will talk to all the skilled people I have given wisdom to, so they can make special clothes for Aaron that will set him apart to serve me as a priest.
4 Make these clothes: a chest piece, an ephod, a robe, a decorated tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are sacred clothes for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they can serve me as priests.
5 They will take gold, blue, purple, red, and good linen.
6 They will make the ephod with gold, blue, purple, and red threads, and fine linen, with skilled craftsmanship.
7 It will have two shoulder parts attached on its two sides, and so it will be held together.
8 The special belt of the ephod, which is part of it, will be made the same way; out of gold, blue, purple, and red threads, and quality linen woven together.
9 You will take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s children.
10 Put six of their names on one stone and the other six names on the second stone, in the order they were born.
11 Carve the two stones like a stone carver would, with designs like a seal, and engrave on them the names of Israel’s children. Put the stones in gold settings.
12 You will place two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites. Aaron will carry their names on his two shoulders before God to remember them.
13 Make gold settings.
14 Make two chains of pure gold, braided like ropes, and attach the braided chains to the settings.
15 Make a special chest piece for making decisions using skilled craftsmanship. It should be made just like the ephod using gold, blue, purple, red, and quality woven linen.
16 It will be square and folded double, a hand’s breadth long and a hand’s breadth wide.
17 Place stones in it, four rows of them: the first row will have a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet. This will be the first row.
18 The second row will have a green gem, a blue gem, and a clear, hard gem.
19 The third row had a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
20 In the fourth row there will be a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they will be placed in gold settings.
21 The stones will have the names of Israel’s twelve sons, each one named like a seal’s carving for each of the twelve tribes.
22 Make chains like braids of pure gold for the chest piece.
23 Make two gold rings for the chest piece, and attach the rings to the top two corners of the chest piece.
24 You should attach the two twisted gold chains to the two rings on the edges of the chestpiece.
25 Attach the other ends of the two twisted chains to the settings and place them on the shoulder straps of the apron at the front.
26 Make two gold rings and attach them to the two corners of the chest piece, on the inside edge near the vest.
27 Make two more gold rings and attach them on the lower sides of the ephod, near the front, right across from its other seam, just above its decorative belt.
28 They will tie the breastplate with its rings to the ephod’s rings using a blue cord, so it sits above the ephod’s decorative belt and the breastplate doesn’t come off the ephod.
29 Aaron will carry the names of Israel’s children on the chestpiece of decision over his heart when he enters the sacred place, to remember them always in front of God.
30 You will place the Urim and the Thummim inside the breastplate for making decisions; they must be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in front of God. Aaron will always carry the decision-making for the Israelites over his heart in front of God.
31 Make the ephod’s robe completely blue.
32 It will have a hole in the top, in the middle, with a strong woven edge around the hole, like the neck of a piece of armor, so it doesn’t tear.
33 Around the bottom hem, make blue, purple, and red pomegranates and place gold bells between them all around.
34 A gold bell and a fruit, a gold bell and a fruit, around the bottom edge of the robe.
35 Aaron must wear it while serving. When he enters the sacred area before God and when he leaves, the sound will be heard so he will not die.
36 Make a pure gold plate and carve on it, as you would a seal, “Holy to God.”
37 Tie it with a blue cord on the turban, to be on the front of the turban.
38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, so he can take responsibility for any wrongs related to the sacred offerings the Israelites make. It will always be on his forehead, so the offerings will be acceptable to God.
39 Make a coat of fine linen with embroidery, a fine linen turban, and a belt with needlework.
40 Make coats for Aaron’s sons, give them sashes, and make hats for them to show honor and beauty.
41 Dress your brother Aaron and his sons in these clothes. Then pour the special oil on them to make them priests for me.
42 Make linen shorts for them to cover their bodies from the waist to the thighs.
43 Aaron and his sons will wear these when they enter the meeting tent or approach the altar to serve in the holy area, so they will not be guilty and die. This is a permanent law for him and his descendants.