Exodus 39:8-21

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Making the Breastpiece

⁸ He^(A) also made the embroidered breastpiece with the same workmanship as the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. ⁹ They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.^{[a] 10} They mounted four rows of gemstones^[b] on it. The first row was a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;^{[c] 11} the second row, a turquoise,^[d] a sapphire,^[e] and a diamond;^{[f] 12} the third row, a jacinth,^[g] 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 12 stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the 12 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, 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,^[h] 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.