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Exodus 28 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

The Priests’ Garments

(Exo 39:1–7 )

Exo 28:1

Exo 28:1“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

Exo 28:2

Exo 28:2And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

Exo 28:3

Exo 28:3You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.

Exo 28:4

Exo 28:4These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests.

Exo 28:5

Exo 28:5They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

Exo 28:6

Exo 28:6“And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked.

Exo 28:7

Exo 28:7It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together.

Exo 28:8

Exo 28:8And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

Exo 28:9

Exo 28:9You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,

Exo 28:10

Exo 28:10six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth.

Exo 28:11

Exo 28:11As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree.

Exo 28:12

Exo 28:12And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance.

Exo 28:13

Exo 28:13You shall make settings of gold filigree,

Exo 28:14

Exo 28:14and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

Exo 28:15

Exo 28:15“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it.

Exo 28:16

Exo 28:16It shall be square and doubled, a span[fn] its length and a span its breadth.

Exo 28:17

Exo 28:17You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius,[fn] topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row;

Exo 28:18

Exo 28:18and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;

Exo 28:19

Exo 28:19and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;

Exo 28:20

Exo 28:20and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree.

Exo 28:21

Exo 28:21There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.

Exo 28:22

Exo 28:22You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold.

Exo 28:23

Exo 28:23And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece.

Exo 28:24

Exo 28:24And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece.

Exo 28:25

Exo 28:25The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod.

Exo 28:26

Exo 28:26You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.

Exo 28:27

Exo 28:27And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

Exo 28:28

Exo 28:28And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod.

Exo 28:29

Exo 28:29So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD.

Exo 28:30

Exo 28:30And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly.

Exo 28:31

Exo 28:31“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

Exo 28:32

Exo 28:32It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment,[fn] so that it may not tear.

Exo 28:33

Exo 28:33On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them,

Exo 28:34

Exo 28:34a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.

Exo 28:35

Exo 28:35And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

Exo 28:36

Exo 28:36“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’

Exo 28:37

Exo 28:37And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban.

Exo 28:38

Exo 28:38It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

Exo 28:39

Exo 28:39“You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.

Exo 28:40

Exo 28:40“For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty.

Exo 28:41

Exo 28:41And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.

Exo 28:42

Exo 28:42You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs;

Exo 28:43

Exo 28:43and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters
The identity of some of these stones is uncertain
The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; possibly coat of mail
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Exodus Chapter 28 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

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