Beginning

The Priestly Garments

28 And bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, so that they may minister to Me as priests—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. ² You shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all who are specially skilled, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as a priest. ⁴ These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and an embroidered coat, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. ⁵ They shall take the gold, the blue, the purple, and the scarlet, and fine linen.

The Ephod^(A)

⁶ They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a skilled workman. ⁷ It shall have the two shoulder pieces attached to its two corners, so it shall be joined together. ⁸ The skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

⁹ You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel, ¹⁰ six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. ¹¹ With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. You shall set them in filigree of gold. ¹² You shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as stones of memorial for the children of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. ¹³ You shall make filigree settings of gold, ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold. You shall make them of twisted cord and fasten the braided chains to the filigree settings.

The Breastplate^(B)

¹⁵ You shall make the breastplate of judgment, the work of a skillful workman. You shall make it in the same manner as the ephod. Of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twisted linen you shall make it. ¹⁶ It is to be square when doubled: a span^[a] in length and a span in width. ¹⁷ You shall set in it four rows of stones. The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; ¹⁸ the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹ the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. ²¹ The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, each like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name for the twelve tribes.

²² You shall make for the breastplate braided chains of pure gold. ²³ You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ²⁴ You shall put the two braided chains of gold on the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. ²⁵ You shall fasten the other two ends of the two braided chains in the two filigree settings and put them on the front of the shoulder pieces of the ephod. ²⁶ You shall make two rings of gold and shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it which is toward the inner side of the ephod. ²⁷ You shall make two other rings of gold and shall put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod underneath toward the front, close to the place where it is joined above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod. ²⁸ They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may be above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastplate will not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹ Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. ³⁰ You shall put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate of judgment, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

Other Priestly Garments^(C)

³¹ You shall make the robe of the ephod completely blue. ³² There shall be a hole at the top of it, in the middle of it. Around its opening it shall have 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 blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around 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 when he ministers. And its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

³⁶ You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet,

HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

³⁷ You shall put it on a blue cord, so that it may be upon the turban. It is to be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall consecrate in regard to all their holy gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the Lord.

³⁹ You shall embroider the tunic of fine linen, and you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash, the work of an embroiderer. ⁴⁰ For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics. You shall make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty. ⁴¹ You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

⁴² You shall make linen undergarments for them to cover their naked skin. They shall reach from the waist to the thighs. ⁴³ They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tent of meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they may not bear iniquity and die.

It shall be a perpetual statute to him and his descendants after him.

Consecration of the Priests^(D)

29 Now this is the thing that you shall do to them to consecrate them, to minister as priests to Me: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ² and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil—you shall make them of wheat flour. ³ You shall put them into one basket and bring them in the basket with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ⁵ You shall take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ⁶ And you shall put the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ Then shall you take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ⁸ You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ⁹ You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the headbands on them, and the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute.

Thus you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ Then you shall bring a bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ You shall kill the bull before the Lord by the door of the tent of meeting. ¹² You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. ¹³ You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But the flesh of the bull, its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

¹⁵ You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁶ You shall slay the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. ¹⁷ Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head. ¹⁸ You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹ Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ You shall kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. ²¹ You shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him. So he and his garments shall be consecrated, along with his sons and his sons’ garments with him.

²² Also you shall take the fat and the rump of the ram, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them and the right shoulder (for it is a ram of consecration), ²³ and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord. ²⁴ And you shall put all of these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁶ You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, 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 that is waved and the thigh of the priest’s portion that is contributed from the ram of the consecration, from that which was for Aaron and from that which was for his sons. ²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the children of Israel from their peace offerings, their contributions to the Lord.

²⁹ The holy garments belonging to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and be consecrated in them. ³⁰ The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.

³¹ You shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in a holy place. ³² Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tent of meeting. ³³ They shall eat those things by which the atonement was made in order to consecrate and sanctify them, but no one else shall eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ If any of the flesh from the consecrations or from the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵ Thus shall you do to Aaron and his sons according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them for seven days. ³⁶ Every day you must offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you must cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You must anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷ For seven days you must make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches the altar will be holy.

The Daily Offerings

³⁸ Now this is what you are to offer on the altar: two one-year-old lambs every day, continually. ³⁹ The one lamb you must offer in the morning, and the other lamb you must offer at sundown. ⁴⁰ And with the first lamb will be a tenth of an ephah^[b] of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin^[c] of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹ The other lamb you must offer at sundown and must offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

⁴² This will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. ⁴³ I will meet there with the children of Israel, and it will be consecrated by My glory.

⁴⁴ I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify both Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. ⁴⁵ I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶ Then 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.