Making the Breastpiece

He(A) also made the embroidered[a] 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.[b] 10 They mounted four rows of gemstones[c] on it.

The first row was

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

11 the second row,

a turquoise,[e] a lapis lazuli, 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 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,[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.

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Footnotes

  1. 39:8 Or woven
  2. 39:9 Lit a span its length and a span its width
  3. 39:10 Many of these stones cannot be identified with certainty.
  4. 39:10 Or beryl
  5. 39:11 Or malachite, or garnet
  6. 39:11 Hb uncertain; LXX, Vg read jasper
  7. 39:12 Hb obscure
  8. 39:20 The place where the shoulder pieces join the front of the ephod

(A)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[a] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 39:9 A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters