Exodus 28

Instructions for the Priestly Garments and Their Sacred Purpose

6 min read

1 And take you to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, 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 holy garments for Aaron your brother for glory and for beauty.
3 And you shall speak to all that are wise hearted, 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 in the priest’s office.
4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a turban, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.
5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. ¶
6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.
7 It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together.
8 And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
9 And you shall take two onyx stones, and grave 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, shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: you shall make them to be set in ouches of gold.
12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial to the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for a memorial. ¶
13 And you shall make ouches of gold;
14 And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shall you make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches. ¶
15 And you shall make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shall you make it.
16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.
17 And you shall set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.
18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their settings.
21 And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes. ¶
22 And you shall make on the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.
23 And you shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.
24 And you shall put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.
25 And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains you shall fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it. ¶
26 And you shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.
27 And two other rings of gold you shall make, and shall put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.
28 And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.
29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually. ¶
30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before the LORD continually. ¶
31 And you shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
32 And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the middle thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent. ¶
33 And beneath on the hem of it you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about.
35 And it shall be on Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before the LORD, and when he comes out, that he die not. ¶
36 And you shall make a plate of pure gold, and grave on it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
37 And you shall put it on a blue lace, that it may be on the turban; on the forefront of the turban it shall be.
38 And it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD. ¶
39 And you shall embroider the coat of fine linen, and you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the girdle of needlework. ¶
40 And for Aaron’s sons you shall make coats, and you shall make for them girdles, and bonnets shall you make for them, for glory and for beauty.
41 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and his sons with him; and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.
42 And you shall make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even to the thighs they shall reach:
43 And they shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they come in to the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever to him and his seed after him.
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