Exodus 28

1 Now let Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, come near from among the children of Israel, so that they may be my priests, even Aaron, and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, his sons.

Call to yourself Aaron your brother and his sons—Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar—from among the Israelites so that they may serve me as priests.

2 And make holy robes for Aaron your brother, so that he may be clothed with glory and honour.

You must make for Aaron, your brother, garments that are set apart to me. These garments will be for his honor and splendor.

3 Give orders to all the wise-hearted workmen, whom I have made full of the spirit of wisdom, to make robes for Aaron, so that he may be made holy as my priest.

You must speak to all people who are wise in heart, those whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, so that they may make Aaron's garments to set him apart to serve me as my priest.

4 This is what they are to make: a priest's bag, an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of coloured needlework, a head-dress, and a linen band; they are to make holy robes for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that they may do the work of priests for me.

The garments that they must make are a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of woven work, a turban, and a sash. They must make these garments that are set them apart to me. They will be for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve me as priests.

5 They are to take the gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen,

Craftsmen must use fine linen that is gold, blue, purple, and scarlet.

6 And make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, the work of a designer.

They must make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine-twined linen. It must be the work of a skillful craftsman.

7 It is to have two bands stitched to it at the top of the arms, joining it together.

It must have two shoulder pieces attached to its two upper corners.

8 And the beautifully worked band, which goes on it, is to be of the same work and the same material, of gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work.

Its finely-woven waistband must be like the ephod; it must be made of one piece with the ephod, made of fine twined linen that is gold, blue, purple, and scarlet.

9 You are to take two beryl stones, on which the names of the children of Israel are to be cut:

You must take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel's twelve sons.

10 Six names on the one stone and six on the other, in the order of their birth.

Six of their names must be on one stone, and six names must be on the other stone, in order of the sons' birth.

11 With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold.

With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engraving on a signet, you must engrave the two stones with the names of Israel's twelve sons. You must mount the stones in settings of gold.

12 And the two stones are to be placed on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel: Aaron will have their names on his arms when he goes in before the Lord, to keep the Lord in mind of them.

You must put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, to be stones to remind Yahweh of Israel's sons. Aaron will carry their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders as a reminder to him.

13 And you are to make twisted frames of gold;

You must make settings of gold

14 And two chains of the best gold, twisted like cords; and have the chains fixed on to the frames.

and two braided chains of pure gold like cords, and you must attach the chains to the settings.

15 And make a priest's bag for giving decisions, designed like the ephod, made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen.

You must make a breastpiece for decision making, the work of a skillful workman, fashioned like the ephod. Make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet wool, and of fine linen.

16 It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide.

It is to be square. You must fold the breastpiece double. It must be one span long and one span wide.

17 And on it you are to put four lines of jewels; the first line is to be a cornelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald;

You must place in it four rows of precious stones. The first row must have a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet.

18 The second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx;

The second row must have an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.

19 The third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

The third row must have a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst.

20 The fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold.

The fourth row must have a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper. They must be mounted in gold settings.

21 The jewels are to be twelve in number, for the names of the children of Israel; every jewel having the name of one of the twelve tribes cut on it as on a stamp.

The stones must be arranged by the names of Israel's twelve sons, each in order by name. They must be like the engraving on a signet ring, each name standing for one of the twelve tribes.

22 And you are to make two chains of gold, twisted like cords, to be fixed to the priest's bag.

You must make on the breastpiece chains like cords, braided work of pure gold.

23 And put two gold rings on the two ends of the bag.

You must make two rings of gold for the breastpiece and must attach them to the two ends of the breastpiece.

24 Put the two gold chains on the two rings at the ends of the bag;

You must attach the two golden chains to the two corners of the breastpiece.

25 Joining the other ends of the chains to the gold frames and putting them on the front of the ephod, at the top of the arms.

You must attach the other ends of the two braided chains to the two settings. Then you must attach those to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at its front.

26 Then make two gold rings and put them on the lower ends of the bag, at the edge of it on the inner side nearest to the ephod.

You must make two rings of gold, and you must put them on the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the edge next to the inner border.

27 And make two more gold rings and put them on the front of the ephod at the top of the arms, at the join, over the worked band:

You must make two more gold rings, and you must attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the front of the ephod, close to its seam above the finely-woven waistband of the ephod.

28 So that the rings on the bag may be fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord and on to the band of the ephod, so that the bag may not come loose from the ephod.

They must tie the breastpiece by its rings to the ephod's rings with a blue cord, so that it might be attached just above the ephod's woven waistband. This is so that the breastpiece might not become unattached from the ephod.

29 And so Aaron will have the names of the children of Israel on the priest's bag over his heart whenever he goes into the holy place, to keep the memory of them before the Lord.

When Aaron goes into the holy place, he must carry the names of the people of Israel over his heart in the breastpiece for decision making, as a continuing memorial before Yahweh.

30 And in the bag you are to put the Urim and Thummim, so that they may be on Aaron's heart whenever he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron may have the power of making decisions for the children of Israel before the Lord at all times.

You are to put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece for decision making, so they may be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before Yahweh. Thus Aaron will always carry the means for making decisions for the people of Israel over his heart before Yahweh.

31 The robe which goes with the ephod is to be made all of blue;

You will make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue fabric.

32 With a hole at the top, in the middle of it; the hole is to be edged with a band to make it strong like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, so that it may not be broken open.

It must have an opening for the head in the middle. The opening must have a woven edge round about so that it does not tear. This must be the work of a weaver.

33 And round the skirts of it put fruits in blue and purple and red, with bells of gold between;

On the bottom hem, you must make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all around. Gold bells must be between them all around.

34 A gold bell and a fruit in turn all round the skirts of the robe.

There must be a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate—and so on—all around the hem of the robe.

35 Aaron is to put it on for his holy work; and the sound of it will be clear, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, keeping him safe from death.

The robe is to be on Aaron when he serves, so that its sound can be heard when he goes into the holy place before Yahweh and when he leaves. This is so that he does not die.

36 You are to make a plate of the best gold, cutting on it, as on a stamp, these words: HOLY TO THE LORD.

You must make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving on a signet, “Holy to Yahweh.”

37 Put a blue cord on it and put it on the front of the twisted head-dress:

You must attach this plate by a blue cord to the front of the turban.

38 And it will be over Aaron's brow, so that Aaron will be responsible for any error in all the holy offerings made by the children of Israel; it will be on his brow at all times, so that their offerings may be pleasing to the Lord.

It must be on Aaron's forehead; he must always bear any guilt that might attach to the offering of the holy gifts that the Israelites set apart to Yahweh. The turban must be always on his forehead so that Yahweh may accept their gifts.

39 The coat is to be made of the best linen, worked in squares; and you are to make a head-dress of linen, and a linen band worked in needlework.

You must make the coat with fine linen, and you must make a turban of fine linen. You must also make a sash, the work of an embroiderer.

40 And for Aaron's sons you are to make coats, and bands, and head-dresses, so that they may be clothed with glory and honour.

For Aaron's sons you must make coats, sashes, and headbands for their honor and splendor.

41 These you are to put on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons, putting oil on them, separating them and making them holy, to do the work of priests to me.

You must clothe Aaron your brother, and his sons with him. You must anoint them, ordain them, and set them apart to me, so that they may serve me as priests.

42 And you are to make them linen trousers, covering their bodies from the middle to the knee;

You must make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh, that will cover them from the waist to the thighs.

43 Aaron and his sons are to put these on whenever they go into the Tent of meeting or come near the altar, when they are doing the work of the holy place, so that they may be free from any sin causing death: this is to be an order for him and his seed after him for ever.

Aaron and his sons must wear these garments when they enter the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to serve in the holy place. They must do this so they would not be guilty or else they would die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants after him.