Garments of the Priests

28 “Then ^(A)bring forward to yourself your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to serve as priest to Me—Aaron, ^(B)Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. ² And you shall make ^(C)holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all the ^[a](D)skillful people ^(E)whom I have endowed with ^[b]the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may serve as priest to Me. ⁴ And these are the garments which they shall make: a ^[c](F)breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a tunic of checkered work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that he may serve as priest to Me. ⁵ They shall take ^(G)the gold, the ^[d]violet, the purple, the scarlet material, and the fine linen.

⁶ “They shall also make ^(H)the ephod of gold, of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, the work of the skilled embroiderer. ⁷ It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, so that it may be joined. ⁸ The skillfully woven band of its overlay, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, ^[e]of the same material: of gold, of violet and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. ⁹ And you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, ¹⁰ six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the ^[f]other stone, according to their birth. ^11 [g]As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall ^[h]set them in filigree settings of gold. ¹² And you shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall ^(I)carry their names before the Lord on his two shoulders ^(J)as a memorial. ¹³ And ^(K)you shall make filigree settings of gold, ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them of twisted cord work, and you shall put the corded chains on the filigree settings.

¹⁵ “^(L)You shall make a ^[i]breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skilled embroiderer; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen you shall make it. ¹⁶ It shall be square and folded double, a ^[j]span ^[k]in length and a ^[l]span ^[m]in width. ¹⁷ And you shall ^[n]mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald; ¹⁸ and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹ and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree. ²¹ The stones shall be engraved according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each ^(M)according to his name for the twelve tribes. ²² You shall also make on the ^[o]breastpiece twisted chains of cord work in pure gold. ²³ And you shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. ²⁴ And you shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. ²⁵ You shall put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it. ²⁶ And you shall make two rings of gold and place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod. ²⁷ And you shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²⁸ And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod. ²⁹ So Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the Holy Place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. ³⁰ And ^(N)you shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the ^[p](O)Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

³¹ “^(P)You shall make the robe of the ephod all of violet. ³² There shall be an opening ^[q]at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. ³³ You shall make on its hem pomegranates of violet, purple, and scarlet material all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: ³⁴ a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. ³⁵ It shall be on Aaron ^[r]when he ministers; and its sound shall be heard when he enters and leaves the Holy Place before the Lord, so that he will not die.

³⁶ “You shall also make ^(Q)a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘^(R)Holy to the Lord.’ ³⁷ You shall ^[s]fasten it on a violet cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. ³⁸ It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall ^[t](S)take away the guilt of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, regarding all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, so that ^(T)they may be accepted before the Lord.

³⁹ “And you shall weave ^(U)the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a ^[u]weaver.

⁴⁰ “For Aaron’s sons you shall also make ^(V)tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make ^[v](W)caps for them, for glory and for beauty. ⁴¹ Then you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall ^(X)anoint them and ^[w]ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve Me as priests. ⁴² You shall make for them ^(Y)linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh; they shall ^[x]reach from the waist even to the thighs. ⁴³ And they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or ^(Z)when they approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur ^[y]guilt and die. ^(AA)It shall be a statute forever to him and to his ^[z]descendants after him.

Consecration of the Priests

29 “^(A)Now this is ^[a]what you shall do to them to consecrate them to serve as priests to Me: take one bull and two rams without blemish, ² and ^(B)unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers ^[b]spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³ And you shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ Then ^(C)you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ⁵ And you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the ^(D)tunic and ^(E)the robe of the ephod, and ^(F)the ephod and ^(G)the ^[c]breastpiece, and wrap his waist with the skillfully ^(H)woven band of the ephod; ⁶ and you shall set the ^(I)turban on his head and put ^(J)the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Then you shall take ^(K)the anointing oil and pour it on his head, and anoint him. ⁸ You shall also bring his sons and put ^(L)tunics on them. ⁹ And you shall wrap their waists with ^(M)sashes, Aaron and his sons, and fit ^[d]caps on them, and they shall have ^(N)the priesthood by a permanent statute. So you shall ^[e](O)ordain Aaron and his sons.

The Sacrifices

¹⁰ “Then you shall bring the bull in front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall ^(P)lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ And you shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹² Then you shall ^(Q)take some of the blood of the bull and put it on ^(R)the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ And you shall ^(S)take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the ^[f]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ But ^(T)the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

¹⁵ “^(U)You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; ¹⁶ and you shall slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. ¹⁷ Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them ^[g]with its pieces and ^[h]its head. ¹⁸ And you shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: ^(V)it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then ^(W)you shall take the ^[i]other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ And you shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar. ²¹ Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the ^(X)anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²² “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the ^[j]lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ^[k]ordination), ²³ and one loaf of bread, and ^(Y)one cake of bread mixed with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord; ²⁴ and you shall put ^[l]all these ^[m]in the ^[n]hands of Aaron and ^[o]in the ^[p]hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ Then ^(Z)you shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

²⁶ “Then you shall take ^(AA)the breast of Aaron’s ram of ^[q]ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. ²⁷ You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the ^[r]contribution which was waved and which was ^[s]offered from the ram of ^[t]ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. ²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is ^[u]a contribution; and it shall be ^[v]a contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their ^[w]contribution to the Lord.

²⁹ “^(AB)The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, ^[x]so that they may be anointed and ordained in them. ³⁰ For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his place shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place.

Food of the Priests

³¹ “Now you shall take the ram of ^[y]ordination and ^(AC)boil its flesh in a holy place. ³² Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ³³ So ^(AD)they shall eat ^[z]those things by which atonement was made ^[aa]at their ordination and consecration; but a ^[ab](AE)layman shall not eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ And ^(AF)if any of the flesh of ^[ac]ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ “So you shall do for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ^[ad]ordain them for ^(AG)seven days. ^36 (AH)Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall ^[ae]purify the altar when you make atonement ^[af]for it, and ^(AI)you shall anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷ For seven days you shall make atonement ^[ag]for the altar and consecrate it; then ^(AJ)the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

³⁸ “Now ^(AK)this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs each day, continuously. ³⁹ The ^(AL)one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the ^[ah]other lamb you shall offer at ^[ai]twilight; ⁴⁰ and there shall be a ^[aj]tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a ^[ak]fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. ⁴¹ The ^[al]other lamb you shall offer at ^[am]twilight, and shall offer with it ^[an]the same grain offering and ^[ao]the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ⁴² It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, ^(AM)where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. ⁴³ I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. ⁴⁴ I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve as priests to Me. ⁴⁵ And ^(AN)I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶ And they shall know that ^(AO)I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.

Stephen’s Defense

7 Now the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

² And ^[a]Stephen said, “Listen to me, ^(A)[b]brothers and fathers! ^(B)The God of glory ^(C)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in ^[c]Haran, ³ and He said to him, ‘^(D)Go from your country and your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you.’ ^4 (E)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in ^[d]Haran. And ^(F)from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. ⁵ But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, ^(G)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. ⁶ But ^(H)God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and ^[e]they would enslave and mistreat them for four hundred years. ⁷ ‘And whatever nation to which they are enslaved I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and ^(I)after that they will come out and ^[f]serve Me in this place.’ ⁸ And He ^(J)gave him ^[g]the covenant of circumcision; and so ^(K)Abraham fathered Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and ^(L)Isaac fathered Jacob, and ^(M)Jacob, the twelve ^(N)patriarchs.

⁹ “The patriarchs ^(O)became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions, and ^(P)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and his entire household.

¹¹ “Now ^(Q)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers ^[h]could find no food. ¹² But ^(R)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. ¹³ And on the second visit, ^(S)Joseph ^[i]made himself known to his brothers, and ^(T)Joseph’s family was revealed to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then ^(U)Joseph sent word and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, ^(V)seventy-five ^[j](W)people in all. ¹⁵ And ^(X)Jacob went down to Egypt, and he and our fathers died there. ¹⁶ And they were brought back from there to ^[k](Y)Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of ^[l]Hamor in ^[m]Shechem.

¹⁷ “But as the ^(Z)time of the promise which God had assured to Abraham was approaching, ^(AA)the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸ until ^(AB)another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ It was he who ^(AC)shrewdly took advantage of our nation and mistreated our fathers in order that they would ^(AD)abandon their infants in the Nile, so that they would not survive. ²⁰ At this time ^(AE)Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home. ²¹ And after he had been put outside, ^(AF)Pharaoh’s daughter ^[n]took him away and nurtured him as her own son. ²² Moses was educated in all ^(AG)the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in ^[o]speaking and action. ²³ But when he was approaching the age of forty, ^(AH)it entered his ^[p]mind to visit his countrymen, the sons of Israel. ²⁴ And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended and took vengeance for the oppressed man by fatally striking the Egyptian. ²⁵ And he thought that his brothers understood that God was granting them ^[q]deliverance ^[r]through him; but they did not understand. ^26 (AI)And on the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting each other, and he tried to reconcile them to peace, by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you injuring each other?’ ²⁷ But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘^(AJ)Who made you a ruler and judge over us? ^28 (AK)You do not intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ ²⁹ At this remark, ^(AL)Moses fled and became a stranger in the land of ^[s]Midian, where he ^(AM)fathered two sons.

³⁰ “After forty years had passed, ^(AN)an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came: ³² ‘^(AO)I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely. ^33 (AP)But the Lord said to him, ‘^[t](AQ)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. ^34 (AR)I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and ^(AS)now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵ “This Moses whom they ^(AT)disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God ^[u]sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the ^[v]help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. ^36 (AU)This man led them out, performing ^(AV)wonders and ^[w]signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the ^(AW)wilderness for forty years. ³⁷ This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘^(AX)God will raise up for you a prophet ^[x]like me from your countrymen.’ ³⁸ This is the one who was in ^(AY)the ^[y]assembly in the wilderness together with ^(AZ)the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received ^(BA)living ^(BB)words to pass on to you. ³⁹ Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they ^(BC)rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, ^40 (BD)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us ^[z]a god who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’ ^41 [aa]At that time ^(BE)they made a ^[ab]calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in ^(BF)the works of their hands. ⁴² But God ^(BG)turned away and gave them over to ^[ac]serve the heavenly ^[ad]lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘^(BH)You did not offer Me victims and sacrifices ^(BI)for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel? ^43 (BJ)You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god ^[ae]Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will deport you beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had ^(BK)the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it ^(BL)according to the pattern which he had seen. ⁴⁵ Our fathers in turn received it, and they also ^(BM)brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the ^[af]nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David. ^46 [ag](BN)David found favor in God’s sight, and ^(BO)asked that he might ^[ah]find a dwelling place for the ^[ai]house of Jacob. ⁴⁷ But it was ^(BP)Solomon who built a house for Him. ⁴⁸ However, ^(BQ)the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:

⁵¹ “You men who are ^(BT)stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. ^52 (BU)Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of ^(BV)the Righteous One, and ^(BW)you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him; ⁵³ you who received the Law as ^(BX)ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Stephen Put to Death

⁵⁴ Now when they heard this, they were ^(BY)infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, being ^(BZ)full of the Holy Spirit, ^(CA)looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^(CB)at the right hand of God; ⁵⁶ and he said, “Behold, I see the ^(CC)heavens opened and ^(CD)the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one ^[aj]mind. ⁵⁸ When they had ^(CE)driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and ^(CF)the witnesses ^(CG)laid aside their cloaks at the feet of ^(CH)a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ They went on stoning Stephen as he ^(CI)called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰ Then he ^(CJ)fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, ^(CK)do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he ^[ak](CL)fell asleep.