Exodus 28 · Parashat Tetzaveh

And take thou to thee Aharon thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Yisra᾽el that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, Aharon, Nadav, and Avihu, El῾azar, and Itamar, the sons of Aharon.

And thou shalt make holy garments for Aharon thy brother for honour and for beauty.

And thou shalt speak to all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aharon’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.

And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an efod, and a robe, and a quilted undercoat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aharon thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office.

And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.

And they shall make the efod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an artist.

It shall have its two shoulderpieces joined at its two edges; and so it shall be joined together.

And the finely wrought girdle of the efod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to its work; namely, of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

And thou shalt take two shoham stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Yisra᾽el:

six of their names on one stone, and the other six names on the other stone, according to their birth.

With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Yisra᾽el: thou shalt make them to be set in fixtures of gold.

And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the efod for stones of memorial to the children of Yisra᾽el: and Aharon shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial.

And thou shalt make fixtures of gold;

and two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the fixtures.

And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment the work of an artist; after the work of the efod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.

Foursquare it shall be, being doubled; a span shall be its length, and a span shall be the breadth of it.

And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a ruby, a chrysolithe, and a beryl: this shall be the first row.

And the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond.

And the third row a ligure, an agate, and a jasper.

And the fourth row an emerald, and a shoham, and a jade: they shall be enclosed in settings of gold.

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Yisra᾽el, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with its name shall they be, according to the twelve tribes.

And thou shalt make upon the breastplate plaited chains of wreathen work of pure gold.

And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.

And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.

And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two fixtures, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the efod toward its forepart.

And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in its border, which is on the side of the efod inward.

And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two shoulderpieces of the efod underneath, toward the forepart of it, over against its coupling, above the finely wrought girdle of the efod.

And they shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the efod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the finely wrought girdle of the efod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the efod.

And Aharon shall bear the names of the children of Yisra᾽el on the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually.

And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Tummim; and they shall be upon Aharon’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord: and Aharon shall bear the judgment of the children of Yisra᾽el upon his heart before the Lord continually.

And thou shalt make the robe of the efod all of blue.

And there shall be a hole for the head, in the midst of it: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole, as it were the hole of a suit of armour, that it be not torn.

And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about its hem; and bells of gold between them round about:

a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.

And it shall be upon Aharon when he comes to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, that he die not.

And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and engrave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, Holiness to the Lord.

And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.

And it shall be upon Aharon’s forehead, that Aharon may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Yisra᾽el shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.

And thou shalt weave the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of embroidery.

And for Aharon’s sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and turbans shalt thou make for them, for honour and for beauty.

And thou shalt put them upon Aharon thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office.

And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even to the thighs they shall reach:

and they shall be upon Aharon, and upon his sons, when they come in the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever to him and his seed after him.