Exodus 28

¹ From among the sons of Israel summon your brother Aaron and his sons to be priests in my service: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron.

² For Aaron your brother you are to make sacred vestments to give dignity and magnificence.

³ You are to instruct all the ablest craftsmen, whose ability I have given them, to make Aaron’s vestments for his consecration to my priesthood.

⁴ These are the vestments they must make: pectoral, ephod, robe, embroidered tunic, turban and girdle. They are to make sacred vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons to be priests in my service.

⁵ They must use gold, purple stuffs, violet shade and red, crimson stuffs, and fine twined linen.

⁶ ‘They are to make the ephod of gold, purple stuffs, violet shade and red, crimson stuffs, and fine twined linen, the work of a skilled embroiderer.

⁷ It must have two shoulder-straps fitted to it to join its two ends together.

⁸ The woven band on it to hold it is to be of similar workmanship and form one piece with it: this must be of gold, purple stuffs, violet shade and red, crimson stuffs, and fine twined linen.

⁹ You will then take two onyx stones and engrave them with the names of the sons of Israel,

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

¹¹ With the art of a jeweller, of an engraver of seals, you are to engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel, and mount them in settings of gold mesh.

¹² You are to fasten the two stones commemorating the sons of Israel to the shoulder-straps of the ephod. In this way Aaron will bear their names on his shoulders in the presence of Yahweh, so as to commemorate them.

¹³ You must also make golden rosettes,

¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold twisted like cord; you are to attach these cord-like

¹⁵ ‘You are to make the pectoral of judgement, finely brocaded, of the same workmanship as the ephod. You are to make it of gold, purple stuffs, violet shade and red, crimson stuffs, and fine twined linen.

¹⁶ It is to be square and doubled over, a span in length and a span in width.

¹⁷ In this you are to set four rows of stones. Sard, topaz, carbuncle, for the first row;

¹⁸ emerald, sapphire, diamond the second row;

¹⁹ the third row, hyacinth, ruby, amethyst;

²⁰ the fourth row, beryl, onyx, jasper. These are to be mounted in gold settings.

²¹ They are to bear the names of the sons of Israel and, like the names on them, are to be twelve in number. They are to be engraved like seals, each with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

²² For the pectoral you will make chains of pure gold twisted like cords.

²³ For the pectoral you must make two gold rings and fix them to its two upper corners.

²⁴ You must fasten the two gold cords to the two rings fixed on the corners of the pectoral.

²⁵ The other two ends of the cords you must fasten to the two rosettes, so that they will be attached to the shoulder-straps of the ephod, on the front.

²⁶ You are to make two gold rings and fix them to the two lower corners of the pectoral, on the inner hem, next to the ephod.

²⁷ You are to make two more gold rings and fix them low down on the front of the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod, close to the join, above the woven band of the ephod.

²⁸ You must secure the pectoral by passing a ribbon of violet-purple through its rings and those of the ephod, so that the pectoral will sit above the woven band and not come apart from the ephod.

²⁹ Thus by means of the pectoral of judgement, when Aaron enters the sanctuary, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel on his breast to call them to mind continually in the presence of Yahweh.

³⁰ To the pectoral of judgement you will add the Urim and the Thummim so that Aaron may have them on his breast when he goes into Yahweh’s presence. Thus in the presence of Yahweh Aaron will continually bear on his breast the oracle of the sons of Israel.

³¹ ‘You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of violet-purple.

³² In the centre it must have an opening for the head, the opening to have round it a border woven like the neck of a coat of mail to keep the robe from being torn.

³³ The lower hem you are to decorate with pomegranates of purple stuffs, violet shade and red, crimson stuffs, and fine twined linen, with golden bells between:

³⁴ gold bells and pomegranates alternately all round the lower hem of the robe.

³⁵ Aaron is to wear it when he officiates, so that the tinkling of the bells will be heard whenever he enters the sanctuary into Yahweh’s presence, or leaves it; thus he will not die.

³⁶ ‘You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it “Consecrated to Yahweh” as a man engraves a seal.

³⁷ You will secure this to the turban with a ribbon of violet-purple; it is to be placed on the front of the turban.

³⁸ Aaron is to wear it on his brow, and so take on himself any shortcomings there may be in what the sons of Israel consecrate in any of their sacred offerings. Aaron must always wear it on his brow, to draw down on them the goodwill of Yahweh.

³⁹ The tunic you must weave of fine linen, and make a turban of fine linen, and a girdle, the work of a skilled embroiderer.

⁴⁰ ‘For the sons of Aaron you are to make tunic and girdle and head-dress to give dignity and magnificence.

⁴¹ You will put these on your brother Aaron and his sons. You will then anoint and invest and consecrate them to serve me in the priesthood.

⁴² You are to make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness from loin to thigh.

⁴³ Aaron and his sons must wear these when they go into the Tent of Meeting and when they approach the altar to serve in the sanctuary, as a precaution against incurring some fault that would mean death. This is an irrevocable ordinance for Aaron and for his descendants after him.