Exodus 28-31
Garments of the Priests
“Then abring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest to Me—Aaron, bNadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2 You shall make aholy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the askillful persons bwhom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me. 4 These are the garments which they shall make: a abreastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister as priest to Me. 5 They shall take athe gold and the blue and the purple and the scarlet material and the fine linen.
6 “They shall also make athe ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful workman. 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined. 8 The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. 9 You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10 six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, according to their birth. 11 As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them in filigree settings of gold. 12 You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall abear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders bfor a memorial. 13 aYou shall make filigree settings of gold, 14 and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them of twisted cordage work, and you shall put the corded chains on the filigree settings.
15 “aYou shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen you shall make it. 16 It shall be square and folded double, a span in length and a span in width. 17 You shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz and emerald; 18 and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and a diamond; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree. 21 The stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a seal, each aaccording to his name for the twelve tribes. 22 You shall make on the breastpiece chains of twisted cordage work in pure gold. 23 You shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 24 You shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. 25 You shall put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it. 26 You shall make two rings of gold and shall place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod. 27 You shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28 They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod. 29 Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. 30 aYou shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the bUrim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.
31 “aYou shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. 33 You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. 35 It shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its tinkling shall be heard when he enters and leaves the holy place before the Lord, so that he will not die.
36 “You shall also make aa plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘bHoly to the Lord.’ 37 You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall atake away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that bthey may be accepted before the Lord.
39 “You shall weave athe tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a weaver.
40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make atunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make bcaps for them, for glory and for beauty. 41 You shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall aanoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve Me as priests. 42 You shall make for them alinen breeches to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or awhen they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. bIt shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.
Consecration of the Priests
“aNow this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and aunleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Then ayou shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5 You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the atunic and bthe robe of the ephod and cthe ephod and dthe breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully ewoven band of the ephod; 6 and you shall set the aturban on his head and put bthe holy crown on the turban. 7 Then you shall take athe anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 You shall bring his sons and put atunics on them. 9 You shall gird them with asashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have bthe priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall cordain Aaron and his sons.
The Sacrifices
10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall alay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 You shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 12 You shall atake some of the blood of the bull and put it on bthe horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You shall atake all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. 14 But athe flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
15 “aYou shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head. 18 You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: ait is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
19 “Then ayou shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar. 21 Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the aanointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22 “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one cake of bread and aone cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 aYou shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.
26 “Then you shall take athe breast of Aaron’s ram of ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering which was waved and which was offered from the ram of ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their heave offering to the Lord.
29 “aThe holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, that in them they may be anointed and ordained. 30 For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.
Food of the Priests
31 “You shall take the ram of ordination and aboil its flesh in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 33 Thus athey shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a blayman shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 aIf any of the flesh of ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ordain them through aseven days. 36 aEach day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and byou shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then athe altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
38 “Now athis is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. 39 The aone lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 40 and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, awhere I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. 45 aI will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 They shall know that aI am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.
The Altar of Incense
“Moreover, you shall make aan altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4 You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the amercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. 8 When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall amake atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
11 The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take aa census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give ba ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them. 13 This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (athe shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the Lord. 15 The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “You shall also make aa laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall bput it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons shall awash their hands and their feet from it; 20 when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and ait shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”
The Anointing Oil
22 Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty, 24 and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. 25 You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be aa holy anointing oil. 26 With it ayou shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its stand. 29 You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. 30 aYou shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me. 31 You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions; ait is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 aWhoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman bshall be cut off from his people.’”
The Incense
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. 35 With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting awhere I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. 37 The incense which you shall make, ayou shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord. 38 aWhoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.”
The Skilled Craftsmen
aNow the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the ason of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have afilled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. 6 And behold, I Myself have appointed with him aOholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 athe tent of meeting, and bthe ark of testimony, and cthe mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 athe table also and its utensils, and the bpure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and cthe altar of incense, 9 athe altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and bthe laver and its stand, 10 the awoven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to carry on their priesthood; 11 athe anointing oil also, and the bfragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”
The Sign of the Sabbath
12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘aYou shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is ba sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. aEveryone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 aFor six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a bsabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; cwhoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ 17 aIt is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; bfor in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses athe two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, bwritten by the finger of God.
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