Making the Priestly Garments

39 From the (A)blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made (B)finely woven garments,[a] for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, (C)as the Lord had commanded Moses.

(D)He made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design. They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges. And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

They made the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

(E)He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span[b] its length and a span its breadth when doubled. 10 And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; 11 and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree. 14 There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 15 And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 16 And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 17 And they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 18 They attached the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree. Thus they attached it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 19 Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 20 And they made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 21 And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

22 (F)He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue, 23 and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear. 24 On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 25 They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates— 26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

27 (G)They also made the coats, woven of fine (H)linen, for Aaron and his sons, 28 and the (I)turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, 29 and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

30 (J)They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” 31 And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

32 Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did (K)according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did. 33 Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 34 the covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins, and the (L)veil of the screen; 35 the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; 36 the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 37 (M)the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38 (N)the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and (O)the screen for the entrance of the tent; 39 the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin and its stand; 40 (P)the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the (Q)screen for the gate of the court, its (R)cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41 the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests. 42 (S)According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. 43 And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses (T)blessed them.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 39:1 Or garments for worship
  2. Exodus 39:9 A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters

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

Bezalel(B) made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. 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. They made shoulder pieces for attaching it; it was joined together at its two edges. 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.

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. 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

He(C) also made the embroidered[c] breastpiece with the same workmanship as the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.[d] 10 They mounted four rows of gemstones[e] on it.

The first row was

a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;[f]

11 the second row,

a turquoise,[g] a lapis lazuli, 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 twelve stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the twelve 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 they 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 made the turban and the ornate headbands[n] of fine linen, the linen undergarments of finely spun linen,(E) 29 and the sash of finely spun linen expertly embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Making the Holy Diadem

30 They made a medallion, the holy diadem, out of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving on a seal:(F) Holy to the Lord. 31 They attached a cord of blue yarn to it in order to mount it on the turban, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Moses’s Inspection of the Tabernacle

32 So all the work for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.(G) 33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent with all its furnishings, its clasps, its supports, its crossbars, and its pillars and bases; 34 the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of fine leather;[o] the curtain for the screen; 35 the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; 36 the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; 37 the pure gold lampstand, with its lamps arranged and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light; 38 the gold altar; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent; 39 the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; 40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and bases, the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and tent pegs, and all the furnishings for the service of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; 41 and the specially woven[p] garments for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy garments for the priest Aaron and the garments for his sons to serve as priests. 42 The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses.(H) 43 Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the Lord commanded. Then Moses blessed them.(I)

Footnotes

  1. 39:1 Hb obscure
  2. 39:3 Sam, Syr, Tg read they
  3. 39:8 Or woven
  4. 39:9 Lit a span its length and a span its width
  5. 39:10 Many of these stones cannot be identified with certainty.
  6. 39:10 Or beryl
  7. 39:11 Or malachite, or garnet
  8. 39:11 Hb uncertain; LXX, Vg read jasper
  9. 39:12 Hb obscure
  10. 39:20 The place where the shoulder pieces join the front of the ephod
  11. 39:23 Hb obscure
  12. 39:24 Sam, LXX, Vg add and linen
  13. 39:26 Lit bell and pomegranate, bell and pomegranate, on the hem of the robe around
  14. 39:28 Lit and the headdresses of headbands
  15. 39:34 Hb obscure
  16. 39:41 Hb obscure