Exodus 28
1 And bring thou near to thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.
“Summon your [older] brother Aaron and his sons—Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ([Set them apart/They are the ones whom I have chosen]) from [the rest of] the Israeli people, in order that they can serve me [by being] priests.
2 And thou shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty.
[Tell the people to] make beautiful clothes for Aaron, clothes that are [suitable for one who] has this dignified and sacred [work].
3 And thou shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest's office.
Talk to all the skilled workmen, those to whom I have given special ability. [Tell them] to make clothes for Aaron, for him to wear when he is (set apart/dedicated) [to become] a priest to serve me.
4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a tunic of checker work, a miter, and a sash. And they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest's office.
These are the clothes that they are to make: A sacred pouch for Aaron to wear over his chest, a sacred apron, a robe, an embroidered tunic/gown, a (turban/cloth to wrap around his head), and a sash/waistband. These are the clothes that your [older] brother Aaron and his sons must wear as they serve me [by doing the work that] priests do.
5 And they shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.
The skilled workmen must use fine linen and blue, purple, and red yarn/thread to make these clothes.”
6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skilful workman.
“The skilled workmen must make the sacred apron from fine linen, and skillfully embroider it with blue, purple, and red yarn/thread.
7 It shall have two shoulder-pieces joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together.
It must have two shoulder straps, to join the front part to the back part.
8 And the skillfully woven band, which is upon it, with which to gird it on, shall be like the work of it and of the same piece, of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
A carefully-woven sash, which must be made from the same materials as the sacred apron, must be [sewn] onto the sacred apron.
9 And thou shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel:
[A skilled workman] must take two [expensive] onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the twelve sons of Jacob.
10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, according to their birth.
He must engrave the names in the order in which Jacob’s sons were born. He must engrave six names on one stone, and the other six names on the other stone.
11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, thou shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the sons of Israel. Thou shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold.
A gem-cutter should engrave these names on the stones. Then he should enclose the stones in (settings/tiny gold frames).
12 And thou shall put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before Jehovah upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
Then he should fasten the stones onto the shoulder straps [of the sacred apron], to represent the twelve Israeli tribes. In that way, Aaron will carry the names of the tribes on his shoulders in order that [I], Yahweh, will never forget [my people] (OR, in order that [he will always] remember that [those tribes belong to] Yahweh).
13 And thou shall make settings of gold,
The settings for the stones must be made from gold.
14 and two chains of pure gold, like cords shall thou make them, of wreathen work. And thou shall put the wreathen chains on the settings.
[Tell them to] make two tiny chains that are braided like cords, and fasten the chains to the settings.”
15 And thou shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skilful workman. Thou shall make it like the work of the ephod: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, thou shall make it.
“[Tell the skilled workman to] make a sacred pouch for Aaron to wear over his chest. [He will use the things he puts into the pouch] to determine [my answers to the questions he asks]. It must be made of the same materials as the sacred apron, and embroidered in the same way.
16 It shall be foursquare and double, a span shall be the length of it, and a span the breadth of it.
It is to be square, and the material must be folded double, so that it is (9 in./22 cm.) on each side.
17 And thou shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row,
[The skilled workman must] fasten four rows of valuable stones onto the pouch. In the first row he must put a [red] ruby, a [yellow] topaz, and a [red] garnet.
18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond,
In the second row he must put a [green] emerald, a [blue] sapphire, and a [clear/white] diamond.
19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst,
In the third row he must put a [red] jacinth, a [white] agate, and a [purple] amethyst.
20 and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be enclosed in gold in their settings.
In the fourth row he must put a [yellow] beryl, a [red] carnelian, and a [green] jasper.
21 And the stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name; they shall be for the twelve tribes.
A gem-cutter should engrave on each of these twelve stones the name of one of the sons of Jacob. These names will represent the twelve Israeli tribes.
22 And thou shall make upon the breastplate chains like cords, of wreathen work of pure gold.
The two [chains] that are made from pure gold and braided like cords are for [attaching] the sacred pouch [to the sacred apron].
23 And thou shall make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.
[The workman must] make two gold rings, and attach them to the upper corners of the sacred pouch.
24 And thou shall put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate.
[He must make] two gold cords, and fasten one end of each cord to one of the rings.
25 And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod in the forepart of it.
He must fasten the other end of each cord to the two settings [that enclose the stones]. In that way, the sacred pouch will be attached to the shoulder straps of the sacred apron.
26 And thou shall make two rings of gold, and thou shall put them upon the two ends of the breastplate, upon the edge of it, which is toward the side of the ephod inward.
Then [he must] make two more gold rings, and attach them to the lower corners of the sacred pouch, on the inside edges, next to the sacred apron.
27 And thou shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod underneath, in the forepart of it, close by the coupling of it, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.
[He must] make two more gold rings, and attach them to the lower part of the front of the shoulder straps, near to where [the shoulder straps] are joined [to the sacred apron], just above the carefully-woven sash/waistband.
28 And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be upon the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.
The skilled workman must tie the rings on the sacred pouch to the rings on the sacred apron with a blue cord, so that the sacred pouch is above the sash/waistband and does not come loose from the sacred apron.
29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Jehovah continually.
In that way, Aaron will have the names of the twelve Israeli tribes in the sacred pouch close to his chest when he enters the Holy Place. This will remind him that I, Yahweh, [will never forget my people] (OR, [that he represents my people when he talks to me, Yahweh]).
30 And thou shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goes in before Jehovah. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the sons of Israel upon his heart before Jehovah continually.
Put into the sacred pouch the two things that the priest will use to determine my answers to the questions he asks. In that way, they will be close to his chest when he enters [the Holy Place to talk] to me. He will use them to find out what is my will for the Israeli people.”
31 And thou shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
“[Tell the workmen to] use only blue [cloth] to make the robe that is to be worn underneath the priest’s sacred apron.
32 And it shall have a hole for the head in the midst of it. It shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it be not torn.
It is to have an opening through which [the priest] can put his head. They must sew a border around this opening, to keep the material from tearing.
33 And upon the skirts of it thou shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the skirts of it, and bells of gold between them round about:
At the lower edge on the robe, they must fasten [decorations that look like] pomegranate fruit. They must be [woven from] blue, purple, and red yarn/thread.
34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about.
Between each of these decorations, they must fasten a tiny gold bell.
35 And it shall be upon Aaron to minister. And the sound of it shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Jehovah, and when he comes out, that he does not die.
When Aaron enters the Holy Place [in the Sacred Tent] to do his work as a priest and when he leaves the Sacred Tent, the bells will ring [as he walks]. As a result, he will not die [because of disobeying my instructions].
36 And thou shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLY TO JEHOVAH.
“[Tell them to] make a tiny ornament of pure gold, and tell a (skilled workman/gem-cutter) to engrave on it the words, ‘Dedicated to Yahweh.’
37 And thou shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be upon the miter. It shall be upon the forefront of the miter.
They should fasten this ornament to the front of the turban by a blue cord.
38 And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead. And Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the sons of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts. And it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before Jehovah.
Aaron must always wear this on his forehead. In that way, Aaron himself will show [that he accepts] the guilt if the Israeli people offer [their sacrifices] to me in a way that is not correct, and I, Yahweh, will accept their sacrifices.
39 And thou shall weave the tunic in checker work of fine linen. And thou shall make a miter of fine linen. And thou shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer.
“[Tell them to] weave the long-sleeved tunic/gown from fine linen. Also, they must make from fine linen a turban and a sash/waistband, and embroider [designs on it].
40 And for Aaron's sons thou shall make tunics. And thou shall make for them sashes, and head-coverings thou shall make for them, for glory and for beauty.
“[Tell them to] make beautiful long-sleeved tunics/gowns, sashes, and caps for Aaron’s sons. Make ones that will be suitable for those who have this dignified work.
41 And thou shall put them upon Aaron thy brother, and upon his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.
Put these clothes on your [older] brother Aaron and on his sons. Then (set them apart/dedicate them) for this work by anointing them [with olive oil], in order that they may serve me [by being] priests.
42 And thou shall make for them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness, from the loins even to the thighs they shall reach.
Also [tell them to] make linen undershorts for them. The undershorts should extend from their waists to their thighs, in order that no one can see their private parts.
43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they go in to the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, that they not bear iniquity, and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and to his seed after him.
Aaron and his sons must always wear those undershorts when they enter the Sacred Tent or when they come near to the altar to offer sacrifices in the Holy Place. If they do not obey this command, I will cause them to die. Aaron and all his male descendants must obey this rule forever.”
