Garments of the Priests

1“Then bring forward to yourself your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to serve as priest to Me—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3You shall speak to all the [a]skillful people whom I have endowed with [b]the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may serve as priest to Me. 4And these are the garments which they shall make: a [c]breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a tunic of checkered work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that he may serve as priest to Me. 5They shall take the gold, the [d]violet, the purple, the scarlet material, and the fine linen.

6“They shall also make the ephod of gold, of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, the work of the skilled embroiderer. 7It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, so that it may be joined. 8The skillfully woven band of its overlay, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, [e]of the same material: of gold, of violet and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. 9And you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the [f]other stone, according to their birth. 11[g]As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall [h]set them in filigree settings of gold. 12And you shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall carry their names before the LORD on his two shoulders as a memorial. 13And you shall make filigree settings of gold, 14and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them of twisted cord work, and you shall put the corded chains on the filigree settings.

15“You shall make a [i]breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skilled embroiderer; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen you shall make it. 16It shall be square and folded double, a [j]span [k]in length and a [l]span [m]in width. 17And you shall [n]mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald; 18and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20and the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree. 21The stones shall be engraved according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each according to his name for the twelve tribes. 22You shall also make on the [o]breastpiece twisted chains of cord work in pure gold. 23And you shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 24And you shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. 25You shall put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it. 26And you shall make two rings of gold and place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod. 27And you shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod. 29So Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the Holy Place, as a memorial before the LORD continually. 30And you shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the [p]Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD continually.

31“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of violet. 32There shall be an opening [q]at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. 33You shall make on its hem pomegranates of violet, purple, and scarlet material all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. 35It shall be on Aaron [r]when he ministers; and its sound shall be heard when he enters and leaves the Holy Place before the LORD, so that he will not die.

36“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ 37You shall [s]fasten it on a violet cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. 38It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall [t]take away the guilt of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, regarding all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the LORD.

39“And you shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a [u]weaver.

40“For Aaron’s sons you shall also make tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make [v]caps for them, for glory and for beauty. 41Then you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall anoint them and [w]ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve Me as priests. 42You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh; they shall [x]reach from the waist even to the thighs. 43And they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not incur [y]guilt and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and to his [z]descendants after him.

[a] 3 Lit wise of heart
[b] 3 I.e., artistic skill
[c] 4 Or pouch
[d] 5 Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch
[e] 8 Lit from it
[f] 10 Lit second
[g] 11 Lit A work of a lapidary, engravings of a seal
[h] 11 Lit make them to be surrounded
[i] 15 Or pouch
[j] 16 About 9 in. or 23 cm
[k] 16 Lit its
[l] 16 About 9 in. or 23 cm
[m] 16 Lit its
[n] 17 Lit fill in a setting of stones, four rows of stones
[o] 22 Or pouch, and so through v 30
[p] 30 I.e., lights and perfections
[q] 32 Or for his head
[r] 35 Lit for ministering
[s] 37 Lit place
[t] 38 Or bear
[u] 39 Lit variegator; i.e., a weaver in colors
[v] 40 Lit headgear
[w] 41 Lit fill their hand
[x] 42 Lit be
[y] 43 Or wrongdoing
[z] 43 Lit seed