Exodus 28–29

1“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

2Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor.

3You are to instruct all the skilled craftsmen, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make garments for Aaron’s consecration, so that he may serve Me as priest.

4These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.

5They shall use gold, along with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.

6They are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn.

7It shall have two shoulder pieces attached at two of its corners, so it can be fastened.

8And the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod must be of one piece, of the same workmanship—with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen.

9Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel:

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

11Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings.

12Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.

13Fashion gold filigree settings

14and two chains of pure gold, made of braided cord work; and attach these chains to the settings.

15You are also to make a breastpiece of judgment with the same workmanship as the ephod. Construct it with gold, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and with finely spun linen.

16It must be square when folded over double, a span long and a span wide.

17And mount on it a setting of gemstones, four rows of stones: In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald;

18in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;

19in the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

20and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount these stones in gold filigree settings.

21The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

22For the breastpiece, make braided chains like cords of pure gold.

23You are also to make two gold rings and fasten them to the two corners of the breastpiece.

24Then fasten the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece,

25and fasten the other ends of the two chains to the two filigree settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front.

26Make two more gold rings and attach them to the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the inside edge next to the ephod.

27Make two additional gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on its front, near its seam just above its woven waistband.

28The rings of the breastpiece shall be tied to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the waistband of the ephod and does not swing out from the ephod.

29Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he shall bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of judgment, as a continual reminder before the LORD.

30And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the LORD.

31You are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth,

32with an opening at its top in the center. Around the opening shall be a woven collar with an opening like that of a garment, so that it will not tear.

33Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all the way around the lower hem, with gold bells between them,

34alternating the gold bells and pomegranates around the lower hem of the robe.

35Aaron must wear the robe whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters or exits the sanctuary before the LORD, so that he will not die.

36You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

37Fasten to it a blue cord to mount it on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban.

38And it will be worn on Aaron’s forehead, so that he may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the sons of Israel consecrate with regard to all their holy gifts. It shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be acceptable before the LORD.

39You are to weave the tunic with fine linen, make the turban of fine linen, and fashion an embroidered sash.

40Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons, to give them glory and splendor.

41After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests.

42Make linen undergarments to cover their bare flesh, extending from waist to thigh.

43Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants.

1“Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,

2along with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour,

3put them in a basket, and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.

4Then present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.

5Take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastplate. Fasten the ephod on him with its woven waistband.

6Put the turban on his head and attach the holy diadem to the turban.

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

8Present his sons as well and clothe them with tunics.

9Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons.

10You are to present the bull at the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.

11And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

12Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

13Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

14But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

15Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

16You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and splatter it on all sides of the altar.

17Cut the ram into pieces, wash the entrails and legs, and place them with its head and other pieces.

18Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

19Take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.

20Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the remaining blood on all sides of the altar.

21And take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. Then he and his garments will be consecrated, as well as his sons and their garments.

22Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination),

23along with one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD.

24Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

25Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is a food offering to the LORD.

26Take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your portion.

27Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the heave offering that is lifted up from the ram of ordination.

28This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is the heave offering the Israelites will make to the LORD from their peace offerings.

29The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them.

30The son who succeeds him as priest and enters the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place must wear them for seven days.

31You are to take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place.

32At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket.

33They must eat those things by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no outsider may eat them, because these things are sacred.

34And if any of the meat of ordination or any bread is left until the morning, you are to burn up the remainder. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

35This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all that I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them.

36Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

37For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will become most holy; whatever touches the altar will be holy.

38This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar, each day: two lambs that are a year old.

39Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight.

40With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.

41And offer the second lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning, as a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

42For the generations to come, this burnt offering shall be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you.

43I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by My glory.

44So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests.

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

46And they will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.