Exodus 28

₁The Lord said to Moses: ‘Tell your brother Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, that they must come to you. I have chosen them to be priests for Me. ₂You must make priestly clothes for your brother Aaron. These clothes must show that he is important and special to Me. ₃I have made some people clever so that they can make beautiful clothes. Talk to them and tell them to make Aaron's clothes to consecrate him as a priest for Me. ₄These are the clothes that they must make for him. He must have a breast-piece, a shoulder-cloth, a robe, a dress with a hem, a turban and a sash. They must make these priestly clothes for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they can be priests for Me.’

₅The Lord said to Moses: ‘The people who make the clothes must use gold and blue, purple and red wool and linen. ₆They must make the shoulder-cloth from that gold and blue, purple and red wool and linen. ₇There must be 2 shoulder straps at the ends of the shoulder-cloth so that they can tie the shoulder-cloth with them. ₈The shoulder-cloth must also have a belt to tie it around the priest's body. They must make the belt from the same material, from gold, blue, purple and red wool material and good linen.

₉Take 2 onyx stones and write the names of Jacob's 12 sons on them. ₁₀Write 6 names on one stone and 6 names on the other stone. Write the oldest son's name first and the youngest son's name last. ₁₁Tell an artisan, who knows how to write on rings, to write the names of Jacob's sons on the stones. Then you must set the 2 stones in gold ₁₂and you must sew them onto the shoulder straps of the shoulder-cloth. These stones will show that I will always remember the sons of Jacob. When Aaron stands in front of Me, their names will be on his shoulders to show that I always think of the 12 tribes_of_Israel. ₁₃You must set the gemstones in gold ₁₄and you must make 2 chains of pure gold for them. Twist the chains like a cord and fasten the chains to the gold where the gemstones are.’

₁₅The Lord said to Moses: ‘You must make a breast-piece for Aaron. He must put it on when he tells you what I want you to do. You must make it like the shoulder-cloth. You must make the breast-piece from gold, blue, red and purple wool and good linen. ₁₆The breast-piece must be square, one span long and one span wide. You must fold it over so that it is double ₁₇and you must put 4 rows of precious gemstones on it. In the first row there must be a carnelian, a chrysolite and a beryl, ₁₈in the 2nd row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald, ₁₉in the 3rd row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst, ₂₀and in the 4th row a beryl, an onyx and a jasper. You must set all the gemstones in gold. ₂₁There must be 12 gemstones, one gemstone for each son of Jacob and the 12 tribes_of_Israel. You must write the name of each tribe on the gemstones like you write a name on a ring.

₂₂You must make small chains of pure gold for the breast-piece and you must twist the chains like a cord. ₂₃Make 2 gold rings and put them on the top 2 corners of the breast-piece. ₂₄Then fasten the 2 gold chains to the rings. ₂₅Fasten the other 2 ends of the chains by sewing them to the gold in the shoulder straps at the front of the shoulder-cloth. ₂₆You must also make 2 gold rings and sew them to the bottom 2 corners of the breast-piece, on the inside of the shoulder-cloth. ₂₇You must also make 2 more gold rings and fasten them onto the 2 front shoulder straps of the shoulder-cloth, just above the belt. ₂₈Then take a blue string of wool and fasten the rings of the breast-piece onto the rings of the shoulder-cloth. Then the breast-piece will be tied to the shoulder-cloth. ₂₉Aaron must always have the names of the tribes_of_Israel in the breast-piece against his heart when he goes into the temple to show that the Lord will always think of his people. ₃₀You must put the urim_and_thummim in the breast-piece. It must be against Aaron's heart when he comes to Me. Aaron must always have the breast-piece against his heart when he comes to Me and when I tell him what to say.’

₃₁The Lord said to Moses: ‘You must make a robe that the priest must put on with the shoulder-cloth. Make it from one piece of blue wool material. ₃₂There must be an opening in the middle of the robe through which the priest's head can go, and there must be a strong hem around the opening so that it will not tear. ₃₃You must make pictures of pomegranates from wool material. They must be blue, purple and deep red and you must sew them onto the hem of the robe. There must be a golden bell sewn next to each pomegranate ₃₄on the hem of the robe. ₃₅Aaron must put this garment on when he works in the temple. Everyone will hear the bells ringing when he goes into the temple to come to Me and when he goes out. If you do this, then Aaron will not die.’

₃₆The Lord said to Moses: ‘You must make a flower from pure gold and you must write on it like people write on a ring. Write: “Consecrated to God”.

₃₇You must fasten the flower with a blue string of wool onto the front of the turban. ₃₈The flower must be on Aaron's forehead. The flower shows that Aaron accepts_the_guilt if the priests do not use the holy_gifts of the people in the right way. The flower must always be on Aaron's forehead, and then the Lord will accept him.

₃₉You must make a dress and a turban from linen for Aaron, and a sash with beautiful pictures sewn onto it.’

₄₀The Lord said to Moses: ‘You must also make coats, sashes and headbands for Aaron's sons. These clothes must be beautiful and they must show that they are priests. ₄₁Your brother Aaron and his sons must wear these clothes and you must anoint and consecrate them so that they can be my priests.’

₄₂The Lord said to Moses: ‘You must make trousers of linen for Aaron and his sons so that the people can not see their naked bodies under their clothes. The trousers must cover their bodies from their hips to their thighs. ₄₃Aaron and his sons must wear these trousers when they go into the tent where I will appear to you, or when they go to the altar to work in the temple. If they do not put these trousers on, they will be guilty and then they will die. Aaron and his descendants must always obey this law.’