The priestly vestments
1Set 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. 2For Aaron, your brother, you are to make sacred vestments to give him dignity and magnificence. 3You are to instruct all the ablest craftsmen (I myself filled them with wisdom), to make Aaron’s vestments for his consecration to my priesthood. 4These are the vestments they must make: Breast piece, Ephod, robe, embroidered tunic, turban and belt. Your brother, Aaron, and his sons will serve me with these sacred vestments. 5For them you shall use gold, purple wool, violet shade and red, crimson wool, and fine twined linen.
6They 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. 7It must have two shoulder straps fitted to it to join its two ends together. 8The 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. 9You will then take two precious stones and engrave them with the names of the sons of Israel, 10six of their names on one stone, the remaining six on the other, in the order of their birth. 11With 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 gold mesh. 12You 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 Yahweh, that he may remember them. 13You must also make golden rosettes, 14and two chains of pure gold twisted like cord; you are to attach these cordlike chains to the rosettes.
15You 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. 16It is to be square and doubled over nine inches wide. 17In this you are to set four rows of stones: sard, topaz, carbuncle, for the first row; 18emerald, sapphire, diamond for the second row; 19for the third row, hyacinth, ruby, amethyst; 20and for the fourth row, beryl, onyx, jasper. These are to be mounted in gold settings. 21There 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.
22For the Breastpiece you will make chains of pure gold twisted like cords, 23and also two gold rings and fix them to its two upper corners. 24You must fasten the two gold cords to the two rings fixed on the corners of the Breastpiece. 25The 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. 26You are to make two gold rings and fix them to the two lower corners of the Breastpiece, on the inner hem, next to the Ephod, on the front. 27You 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. 28You 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.
29So 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 Yahweh. 30In the Breastpiece of judgment you will put the Urim and the Thummim by means of which he takes the decisions for the Israelites. Aaron shall have them on his breast when he goes into Yahweh’s presence.
31You are to make the robe of the Ephod entirely of violet-purple. 32In the center it must have an opening for the head, with a border woven around the neck to keep the robe from being torn. 33You shall decorate the lower hem with pomegranates of purple wool, violet shade and red, crimson wool, and fine twined linen, 34and you shall fit gold bells between: gold bells and pomegranates will be alternately all around the lower hem of the robe. 35Aaron 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 Yahweh’s presence, or leaves it; if he does not, he will die.
36You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it ‘Consecrated to the Lord.’ 37You will tie this to the front of the headpiece with a ribbon of violet-purple. 38Aaron 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 Yahweh.
39You shall also weave the shirt of fine linen, and make a headpiece of fine linen, and a belt, the work of a skilled embroiderer.
40You are to make shirt and belt and headdress for the sons of Aaron to make them dignified and beautiful.
41You will put all these ornaments on your brother Aaron and his sons. You will then anoint and invest and consecrate them to serve me in the priesthood. 42You are to make them linen shorts to cover their nakedness from waist to thigh. 43Aaron and his sons must wear these when they go into the Tent of Meeting and when they 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 for his descendants after him.
