Beginning

28 From among the Israelites take your brother Aaron and his sons with him, that he may minister to Me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

² And you shall make for Aaron your brother sacred garments [appointed official dress set apart for special holy services] for honor and for beauty.

³ Tell all who are expert, whom I have endowed with skill and good judgment, that they shall make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him for My priesthood.

⁴ They shall make these garments: a breastplate, an ephod [a distinctive vestment to which the breastplate was to be attached], a robe, long and sleeved tunic of checkerwork, a turban, and a sash or band. They shall make sacred garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office.

⁵ They shall receive [from the people] and use gold, and blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine linen.

⁶ And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen, skillfully woven and worked.

⁷ It shall have two shoulder straps to join the two [back and front] edges, that it may be held together.

⁸ The skillfully woven girding band which is on the ephod shall be made of the same, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen.

⁹ And you shall take two onyx or beryl stones and engrave on them the names of the twelve sons of Israel;

¹⁰ Six of their names on one stone and the six names of the rest on the other stone, arranged in order of their birth.

¹¹ With the work of a stone engraver, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel. You shall have them set in sockets or rosettes of gold.

¹² And you shall put the two stones upon the [two] shoulder straps of the ephod [of the high priest] as memorial stones for Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names upon his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.

¹³ And you shall make sockets or rosettes of gold for settings,

¹⁴ And two chains of pure gold, like cords shall you twist them, and fasten the corded chains to the settings.

¹⁵ You shall make a breastplate of judgment, in skilled work; like the workmanship of the ephod shall you make it, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and of fine twined linen.

¹⁶ The breastplate shall be square and doubled; a span [nine inches] shall be its length and a span shall be its breadth.

¹⁷ You shall set in it four rows of stones: a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle shall be the first row;

¹⁸ The second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond [so called at that time];

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 And the stones shall be twelve, according to the names of the sons of Israel, like the engravings of a signet, each with its name for the twelve tribes.

²² You shall make for the breastplate chains of pure gold twisted like cords.

²³ You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and put [them] on the two edges of the breastplate.

²⁴ And you shall put the two twisted, cordlike chains of gold in the two rings which are on the edges of the breastplate.

²⁵ The other two ends of the two twisted, cordlike chains you shall fasten in the two sockets or rosettes in front, putting them on the shoulder straps of the ephod;

²⁶ And make two rings of gold and put them at the two ends of the breastplate on its inside edge next to the ephod.

²⁷ Two gold rings you shall make and attach them to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod in front, close by where they join, above the skillfully woven girdle or band of the ephod.

²⁸ And they shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the skillfully woven girding band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not become loose from the ephod.

²⁹ So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them in continual remembrance before the Lord.

³⁰ In the breastplate of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim [unspecified articles used when the high priest asked God’s counsel for all Israel]; they shall be upon Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord, and Aaron shall bear the judgment (rights, judicial decisions) of the Israelites upon his heart before the Lord continually.

³¹ Make the robe [to be worn beneath] the ephod all of blue.

³² There shall be a hole in the center of it [to slip over the head], with a binding of woven work around the hole, like the opening in a coat of mail or a garment, that it may not fray or tear.

³³ And you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] around about its skirts, with gold bells between them;

³⁴ A gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe.

³⁵ Aaron shall wear the robe when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes [alone] into the Holy of Holies before the Lord and when he comes out, lest he die there.

³⁶ And you shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, holy to the lord.^(A)

³⁷ You shall fasten it on the front of the turban with a blue cord.

³⁸ It shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may take upon himself and bear [any] iniquity [connected with] the holy things which the Israelites shall give and dedicate; and it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord [in the priest’s person].^(B)

³⁹ And you shall weave the long and sleeved tunic of checkerwork of fine linen or silk and make a turban of fine linen or silk; and you shall make a girdle, the work of the embroiderer.

⁴⁰ For Aaron’s sons you shall make long and sleeved tunics and belts or sashes and caps, for glory and honor and beauty.

⁴¹ And you shall put them on Aaron your brother and his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain and sanctify them [set them apart for God], that they may serve Me as priests.

⁴² You shall make for them [white] linen trunks to cover their naked flesh, reaching from the waist to the thighs.

⁴³ And they shall be on Aaron and his sons when they go into the Tent of Meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bring iniquity upon themselves and die; it shall be a statute forever to Aaron and to his descendants after him.

29 This is what you shall do to consecrate (set them apart) that they may serve Me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams, all without blemish,

² And unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil; of fine flour shall you make them.

³ You shall put them in one basket and bring them in [it], and bring also the bull and the two rams;

⁴ And bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting [out where the laver is] and wash them with water.

⁵ Then take the garments and put on Aaron the long and sleeved tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the skillfully woven girding band of the ephod.

⁶ And you shall put the turban or miter upon his head and put the holy crown upon the turban.

⁷ Then take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

⁸ And bring his sons and put long and sleeved tunics on them.

⁹ And you shall gird them with sashes or belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them; and the priest’s office shall be theirs by a perpetual statute. Thus you shall ordain and consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ Then bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head.

¹¹ And you shall kill the bull before the Lord by the door of the Tent of Meeting.

¹² And you shall take of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.

¹³ And take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the appendage that is on 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 hide, and the contents of its entrails you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.^(C)

¹⁵ You shall also take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram.

¹⁶ And you shall kill the ram and you shall take its blood and throw it against the altar round about.

¹⁷ And you shall cut the ram in pieces and wash its entrails and legs and put them with its pieces and its head,

¹⁸ And you shall burn the whole ram upon the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet and satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

¹⁹ And you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram;

²⁰ Then you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumb of their right hands and on the great toe of their right feet, and dash the rest of the blood against the altar round about.

²¹ Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments; and he and his garments and his sons and their garments shall be sanctified and made holy.

²² Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the appendage on the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh; for it is a ram of consecration and ordination.

²³ Take also 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 put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and they shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

²⁵ Then you shall take them from their hands, add them to the burnt offering, and burn them on the altar for a sweet and satisfying fragrance before the Lord; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

²⁶ And take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion [Moses].

²⁷ And you shall sanctify (set apart for God) the waved breast of the ram used in the ordination and the waved thigh of the priests’ portion, since it is for Aaron and his sons.

²⁸ It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their due portion from the Israelites perpetually, an offering from the Israelites of their peace and thanksgiving sacrifices, their offering to the Lord.

²⁹ The holy garments of Aaron shall pass to his descendants who succeed him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated and ordained in them.

³⁰ And that son who is [high] priest in his stead shall put them on [each day for] 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 ordination and boil its flesh in a holy and set-apart place.

³² Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

³³ They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to ordain and consecrate them; but a stranger (layman) shall not eat of them because they are holy (set apart to the worship of God).

³⁴ And if any of the flesh or bread for the ordination remains until morning, you shall burn it with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy (set apart to the worship of God).

³⁵ Thus shall you do to Aaron and to his sons according to all I have commanded you; during seven days shall you ordain them.

³⁶ You shall offer every day a bull as a sin offering for atonement. And you shall cleanse the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

³⁷ Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it [set it apart for God]; and the altar shall be most holy; whoever or whatever touches the altar must be holy (set apart for God’s service).

³⁸ Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old shall be offered day by day continually.

³⁹ One lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb in the evening;

⁴⁰ And with the one lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering [to be poured out].

⁴¹ And the other lamb you shall offer at evening, and do with it as with the cereal offering of the morning and with the drink offering, for a sweet and satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

⁴² This shall 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 there to you.

⁴³ There I will meet with the Israelites, and the Tent of Meeting shall be sanctified by My glory [the Shekinah, God’s visible presence].

⁴⁴ And I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar; I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office.

⁴⁵ And I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

⁴⁶ And they shall know [from personal experience] that I am the Lord their God, Who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.