Exodus

The Priestly Vestments

Set apart of the sons of Israel your brother Aaron and his sons and summon them to be priests in my service: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

For Aaron, your brother, you are to make sacred vestments to give him dignity and magnificence.

You are to instruct all the ablest craftsmen (I myself filled them with wisdom), to make Aaron’s vestments for his consecration to my priesthood.

These are the vestments they must make: breastpiece, Ephod, robe, embroidered tunic, turban, and belt. Your brother, Aaron, and his sons will serve me with these sacred vestments.

For them, you shall use gold, purple wool, violet shade, and red, crimson wool, and fine twined linen.

Ephod

They are to make the Ephod of gold, purple wool, violet shade, and red, crimson wool, and fine twined linen, the work of a skilled embroiderer.

It must have two shoulder straps fitted to join its two ends together.

The woven band on it to hold it on is to be of similar workmanship and to form one piece with it: this must be of gold thread, purple wool, violet shade, and red, crimson wool, and fine twined linen.

You will then take two precious stones and engrave them with the names of the sons of Israel,

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

With the art of a jeweler, of an engraver of seals, you are to engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel and mount them in settings of a gold mesh.

You are to fasten the two stones commemorating the sons of Israel to the shoulder straps of the Ephod. In this way, Aaron will bear their names on his shoulders in the presence of the Lord, that he may remember them.

You must also make golden rosettes;

and two chains of pure gold twisted like a cord; you are to attach these cordlike chains to the rosettes.

Pectoral

You are to make the breastpiece of judgment, finely embroidered, of the same workmanship as the apron. You are to make it of gold, purple wool, violet shade, and red, crimson wool, and fine twined linen.

It is to be square and doubled over, nine inches wide.

In this, you are to set four rows of stones: sard, topaz, carbuncle for the first row;

emerald, sapphire, diamond for the second row;

for the third row, hyacinth, ruby, amethyst;

and for the fourth row, beryl, onyx, jasper. These are to be mounted in gold settings.

There are to be twelve according to the number of the sons of Israel whose names are engraved on them. They are to be engraved like seals, each with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

For the breastpiece, you will make chains of pure gold twisted like cords,

and two gold rings and fix them to its two upper corners.

You must fasten the two gold cords to the two rings fixed on the corners of the breastplate.

The other two ends of the cords you must fasten to the two rosettes so that they will be attached to the shoulder straps of the Ephod on the front.

You are to make two gold rings and fix them to the two lower corners of the breast piece, on the inner hem, next to the Ephod, on the front.

You are to make two more gold rings and fix them low down on the front of the two shoulder pieces of the Ephod, close to the seam, above the woven band of the Ephod.

You must secure the breastpiece by passing a ribbon of violet-purple through its rings and those of the Ephod so that the breastpiece will sit above the woven band and not come apart from the Ephod.

So when Aaron enters the sanctuary wearing the breastpiece of judgment, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel on his breast to call them to mind continually in the presence of the Lord.

In the breastpiece of judgment, you will put the Urim and the Thummim, using which he makes decisions for the Israelites. Aaron shall have them on his breast when he enters the Lord’s presence.

Cloak

You are to make the robe of the Ephod entirely of violet-purple.

In the center, it must have an opening for the head, with a border woven around the neck to keep the robe from being torn.

You shall decorate the lower hem with pomegranates of purple wool, violet shade, and red, crimson wool, and fine twined linen,

and you shall fit gold bells between; gold bells and pomegranates will be alternately all around the lower hem of the robe.

Aaron is to wear this robe when he serves before God so that the tinkling of the bells will be heard whenever he enters the sanctuary and goes into the Lord’s presence or leaves it; if he does not, he will die.

Golden Flower

You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it ‘Consecrated to the Lord.’

You will tie this to the front of the headpiece with a ribbon of violet-purple.

Aaron is to wear it on his forehead and so take on himself any sins, which the sons of Israel may have committed in any of their sacred offerings. Aaron must always wear this plate on his forehead to draw down on the Israelites the goodwill of the Lord.

You shall also weave the shirt of fine linen, make a headpiece of fine linen, and make a belt, the work of a skilled embroiderer.

Other Garments

You are to make a shirt, a belt, and a headdress for the sons of Aaron to make them dignified and beautiful.

You will put all these ornaments on your brother Aaron and his sons. You will then anoint, invest, and consecrate them to serve me in the priesthood.

You are to make them linen shorts to cover their nakedness from the waist to the thigh.

Aaron and his sons must wear these when they enter the Tent of Meeting and approach the altar to serve the sanctuary. If they do not, they will be guilty and die.

This is a permanent rule for Aaron and his descendants.