Exodus 28

Instructions for Making Garments for Priests

1 "And bring near to you Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from the midst of the {Israelites} to serve as priests for me--Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron.
2 And you will make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for glory and for splendor.
3 And you will speak to all [the] skilled of heart, whom I have given {a gift of skill}, and they will make the garments of Aaron to consecrate him for his serving as my priest.
4 And these are the garments that they will make: A breast piece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of specially woven fabric, a turban and a sash. And they will make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and for his sons to serve as priests for me.
5 "And they will take the gold and the blue and the purple and the crimson [yarns] and the fine linen,
6 and they will make the ephod of gold, blue and purple, [and] crimson [yarns], and finely twisted linen, the work of a skilled craftsman.
7 It will have two joining shoulder pieces at its two edges, so that it can be fastened.
8 And the waistband of his ephod, which is on it, will be of like work to it--gold, blue, and purple and crimson [yarns] and finely twisted linen.
9 "And you will take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the {Israelites},
10 [with] six of their names on the one stone and the remaining six on the second, according to their genealogies.
11 [As the] work of a skilled stone craftsman, [with] seal engravings you will engrave on the two stones the names of the {Israelites}; you will make them mounted [in] gold filigree settings.
12 And you will set the two stones on the ephod's shoulder pieces [as] stones of remembrance for the {Israelites}, and Aaron will bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulder pieces for remembrance.
13 "And you will make gold filigree settings.
14 And you will make two braided chains of pure gold ornamental cord work, and you will put the chains of the ornamental cords on the filigree settings.
15 And you will make a breast piece of judgment, a work of a skilled craftsman; you will make it like the work of the ephod; you will make it of gold, blue and purple and crimson [yarns], and finely twisted linen.
16 It will be squared, doubled, a span its length and a span its width.
17 And you will fill it [with] stone mounting, four rows [of] stone, a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald [is] the first row;
18 and the second row [is] a malachite, a sapphire, and a moonstone;
19 and the third row [is] a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
20 and the fourth row [is] a turquoise and an onyx and a jasper. Their settings will be woven [with] gold.
21 The stones will be according to the names of the {Israelites}, twelve according to their names, [with] seal engravings, each according to its name they will be for [the] twelve tribes.
22 "And you will make on the breast piece braided chains, a work of pure gold ornamental cord.
23 And you will make on the breast piece two gold rings, and you will put the two rings on the two edges of the breast piece.
24 And you will put the two gold ornamental cords on the two rings on the edges of the breast piece.
25 And you will put the two ends of the two ornamental cords on the two filigree settings, and you will put [them] on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.
26 And you will make two gold rings, and you will place them on the two ends of the breast piece, on its edge that [is] {on the other side} of the ephod, {to the inside}.
27 And you will make two rings and put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod below at its front near its seam above the waistband of the ephod.
28 And they will tie the breast piece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord to be on the waistband of the ephod, and the breast piece will not come loose from the ephod.
29 And Aaron will bear the names of the {Israelites} in the breast piece of judgment on his heart, when he comes to the sanctuary, for a remembrance before Yahweh continually.
30 And you will put the Urim and the Thummim on the breast piece of judgment, and they will be on the heart of Aaron when he comes before Yahweh, and Aaron will bear the judgment of the {Israelites} on his heart before Yahweh continually.
31 "And you will make the robe of the ephod totally of blue [yarn].
32 And the opening for his head will be in the middle of it; its opening will have an edge all around, the work of a weaver; it will be like the opening of a sturdy garment for it, [so that] it will not be torn.
33 And you will make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and crimson [yarns] on its hem all around and bells of gold in the midst of them all around,
34 a gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe all around.
35 And it will be on Aaron for serving, and its sound will be heard at his coming into the sanctuary before Yahweh and at his going out, so that he will not die.
36 "And you will make a pure gold rosette, and you will engrave on it with seal engravings: "A holy object for Yahweh."
37 And you will place it on a blue cord, and it will be on the turban, at the front of the turban it will be.
38 And it will be on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron will bear the guilt of the holy objects that the {Israelites} will consecrate for all their holy gifts, and it will be on his forehead continually for acceptance for them before Yahweh.
39 "And you will weave the tunic of fine linen, and you will make a turban of fine linen, and you will make a sash, the work of an embroiderer.
40 And for the sons of Aaron you will make tunics, and you will make for them sashes and headdresses; you will make them for glory and for splendor.
41 And you will clothe them--Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him--and you will anoint them and {ordain them} and consecrate them, and they will serve as priests for me.
42 And make for them undergarments of linen to cover naked flesh; they will be from loins to thigh.
43 And they will be on Aaron and on his sons when they come to the tent of assembly or when they approach the altar to serve in the sanctuary, so that they will not bear guilt and die. [It is] a lasting statute for him and for his offspring after him.

Footnotes 19

  • [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [b]. Or "garments of holiness"
  • [c]. Or "beauty"
  • [d]. Literally "a spirit of wisdom"
  • [e]. Precisely what kind of fabric this was is debated
  • [f]. Or "garments of holiness"
  • [g]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [h]. In other words, "according to their birth order"
  • [i]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [j]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [k]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [l]. Literally "beyond"
  • [m]. Literally "houseward," "to house," meaning "inward"
  • [n]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [o]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [p]. Or "medallion"
  • [q]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [r]. Or "beauty"
  • [s]. Literally "fill their hand"

Exodus 28 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.