Beginning

The Priests and Their Vestments

28 Bring Aaron your brother near to you from among the people of Israel, and his sons with him, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. Bring Aaron and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. ² You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother to give him honor and splendor. ³ Speak to all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,^[a] so that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴ These are the garments which they shall make: a chest pouch, a special vest, a robe, a specially woven tunic, a turban, and a sash.^[b] They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁵ The craftsmen shall use the gold, and the blue, purple, and scarlet material, and the fine linen.

The Special Vest

⁶ They shall make the special vest^[c] of gold and of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen, the work of a skillful craftsman. ⁷ It is to have two shoulder straps, one on each side, so that the vest can be fastened together. ⁸ The decorated band, which is attached to the vest, is to be just like it: made of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen. ⁹ Take two onyx stones and engrave the names of the sons of Israel on them— ¹⁰ six of their names on one stone and the names of the other six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ Engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel, in the same way that a gem cutter engraves a seal. Mount them in settings of gold. ¹² Put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the vest to be memorial stones for the people of Israel. Aaron shall bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord. ¹³ Make settings of gold ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold. Make them like braided cords, and attach the braided chains to the settings.

The Chest Pouch

¹⁵ You shall make a chest pouch to be used for making decisions, the work of a skillful craftsman. You shall make it with the same workmanship as the vest. Make it from gold and from blue, purple, and scarlet material and from fine woven linen. ¹⁶ It is to be square when it is folded, nine inches by nine inches. ¹⁷ You shall arrange settings for precious stones on it, four rows of stones: The first row is to be carnelian, diamond, and jacinth; ¹⁸ the second row agate, sapphire,^[d] and emerald; ¹⁹ the third row beryl, jasper, and ruby; ²⁰ and the fourth row topaz, onyx, and turquoise.^[e] They are to be mounted in gold settings. ²¹ There are to be twelve stones corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel. Each one shall be like an engraved seal, each with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

²² You shall make braided chains of pure gold as cords for the pouch. ²³ Make two gold rings for the pouch, and attach the two rings to the top corners of the pouch. ²⁴ Put the two braided chains of gold into the two rings at the top corners of the pouch. ²⁵ Attach the other ends of the two braided chains to the two settings, and then attach them to the shoulder straps on the front of the vest. ²⁶ Make two rings of gold, and put them on the two lower corners of the pouch, on its inside edge, which is toward the vest. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings, and attach them to the two shoulder straps of the vest in the front, close to the bottom where it is joined to the band of the vest. ²⁸ Tie the rings on the pouch to the rings on the vest with a blue cord, so that the pouch is right next to the band of the vest, so that the pouch does not swing out from the vest. ²⁹ Whenever he goes into the Holy Place, Aaron shall wear the pouch for making decisions, which bears the names of the sons of Israel, over his heart as a constant memorial before the Lord. ³⁰ You shall put the Urim and the Thummim^[f] into the pouch for making decisions, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart whenever he goes before the Lord. Aaron shall bear the means of making decisions for the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord continually.

The Robe

³¹ You shall make the robe that is to be worn under the vest. It is to be all blue. ³² It is to have an opening in the middle of the top of it for the head. It is to have a woven binding around the opening, like the opening of a collar,^[g] to prevent it from tearing. ³³ To be placed around its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet material. Alternate them with gold bells ³⁴ (a gold bell, then a pomegranate, a gold bell, then a pomegranate), all around the hem of the robe. ³⁵ The robe shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die.

The Gold Medallion

³⁶ You shall make a medallion of pure gold and engrave on it (like the engravings on a seal): Holy to the Lord. ³⁷ You shall attach it to a blue cord to fasten it to the turban. It is to be placed on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear any guilt in regard to the holy things, which the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. The medallion shall always be on his forehead, so that the offerings may be accepted in the presence of the Lord.

Tunic, Turban, Sash

³⁹ You shall weave the tunic of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of an embroiderer.

The Tunics and Pants for the Other Priests

⁴⁰ You shall make tunics for Aaron’s sons, and you shall make sashes for them, and you shall make small pointed turbans for them, to give them honor and splendor. ⁴¹ Put them on your brother Aaron and on his sons along with him, anoint them, and ordain them for their work^[h] and consecrate them, so that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴² Make linen pants for them to cover their naked flesh. The pants shall reach from the waist to the thighs. ⁴³ They are to be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they go into the Tent of Meeting, or whenever they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This shall be a permanent regulation for him and for his descendants after him.

The Ordination of the Priests

29 This is what you shall do to them to set them apart as holy, so that they can minister to me in the priest’s office:

Take one young bull and two rams without defect, ² unleavened bread, unleavened rolls mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed^[i] with oil. Make them from fine wheat flour. ³ Put them into one basket and bring them in the basket when you bring the bull and the two rams. ⁴ Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. ⁵ Take the garments and put them on Aaron: the tunic, the robe to be worn under the vest, the vest, and the pouch. Clothe him with the sash of the vest. ⁶ Set the turban on his head and put the holy crest on the turban. ⁷ Then take the anointing oil and pour it on his head to anoint him. ⁸ You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ⁹ Clothe them with sashes—Aaron and his sons—and bind small pointed turbans on them. Then they shall possess the priesthood by means of a perpetual regulation. You shall ordain Aaron and his sons for their work.^[j]

¹⁰ Bring the bull in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ Slaughter the bull in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. ¹² Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ Take all the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But the meat of the bull, its hide, and its intestines and their contents, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. This is a sin offering.

¹⁵ Then take the first ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁶ Slaughter the ram, and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar. ¹⁷ You shall cut the ram into pieces, wash its internal organs and its legs, and put them with the other pieces and with its head. ¹⁸ You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. This is a whole burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire^[k] to the Lord.

¹⁹ Then take the other ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ Then you shall slaughter the ram. Take some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and splash the blood all around on the altar. ²¹ Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and spatter it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on the garments of his sons, who are with him. So he and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments shall be consecrated. ²² From this ram take the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for this is a ram for the dedication), ²³ and one loaf of bread, one roll made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. ²⁴ You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for the burnt offering as a pleasant aroma before the Lord. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

²⁶ Take the breast from Aaron’s ram of ordination and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion of the sacrifice. ²⁷ Consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the elevated offering, which are waved and lifted up,^[l] from the ram of ordination. They are for Aaron and for his sons. ²⁸ It shall belong to Aaron and his sons perpetually as their portion of the offering from the people of Israel, because it is an elevated offering. It shall be an elevated offering from the people of Israel from their sacrifices, from their fellowship offerings, that is, their elevated offering to the Lord.

²⁹ The holy garments of Aaron shall belong to his descendants after him, so they are to wear them while they are being anointed and ordained for their work. ³⁰ The son who is to be high priest in Aaron’s place shall put them on for seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.

³¹ Take the ram of ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. ³³ They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but a non-priest^[m] shall not eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ If any of the meat or the bread from the ordination remains until the next morning, you shall burn the remainder with fire. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ This is what you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, exactly as I have commanded you. You shall ordain them^[n] for seven days. ³⁶ Every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to make it holy. ³⁷ For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar to make it holy. The altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

The Regular Daily Offerings

³⁸ Now this is what you shall offer on the altar regularly, every day: two lambs a year old. ³⁹ The first lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.^{[o] 40} With the first lamb offer two quarts^[p] of fine flour mixed with a quart^[q] of beaten olive oil,^[r] and a quart of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹ The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and you shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire^[s] to the Lord. ⁴² It shall be presented as a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord. There I will meet with you to speak to you. ⁴³ There I will meet with the people of Israel, and the place will be made holy by my glory. ⁴⁴ I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴⁵ I will dwell among the people of Israel and I will be their God. ⁴⁶ They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.