The Priestly Garments
39 Moreover, from the blue and purple and scarlet fabric, they made finely woven garments for serving and ministering in the Holy Place; they made the holy garments for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
2 Bezalel made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen. 3 Then Bezalel and Oholiab hammered the gold [into thin sheets] and cut it into threads to work into the blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and into the fine linen, the work of a skilled craftsman. 4 They made attaching shoulder pieces for the ephod; it was attached at its two [upper] edges. 5 The skillfully woven sash with which to bind it, which was on the ephod [to hold it in place], was like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold and of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 They made the onyx stones, set in settings of gold filigree; they were engraved as signets are engraved, with the names of [the twelve tribes of] the sons of Israel. 7 And he put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be memorial stones (a remembrance) for the sons of Israel (Jacob), just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8 Bezalel made the breastpiece, the work of a skillful craftsman, like the workmanship of the ephod: of gold and of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen. 9 It was square; they made the breastpiece folded double, a [hand’s] span long and a [hand’s] span wide when folded double. 10 And they mounted four rows of stones on it. The first row was a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald; 11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper; they were mounted in settings of gold filigree. 14 The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel; they were twelve [in all], corresponding to their names, engraved like a signet, each with its name, for the twelve tribes. 15 And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords of pure gold. 16 They made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 17 Then they put the two twisted cords of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastpiece. 18 They 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. 19 They made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inner edge which was next to the ephod. 20 Furthermore, they made two [other] gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at the front of it, close to the place where it is joined, above the woven sash of the ephod. 21 They bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it would lie on the woven sash of the ephod, and so that the breastpiece would not come loose from the ephod, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
22 Then Bezalel made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue; 23 there was an opening [for the head] in the middle of the robe, like the opening in a coat of armor, with a hem around it, so that it would not be frayed or torn. 24 On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen. 25 They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe; 26 a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all [the way] around the hem of the robe, for service and ministering, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
27 And they made tunics of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons, 28 and the turban of fine linen, and the ornamental caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen, 29 and the sash of fine twisted linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
30 They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engravings of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.”(A) 31 They tied a blue cord to it, to fasten it on the turban above, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished; and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; that is what they did. 33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses [for him to inspect]: the tent and all its furnishings, its hooks, its [frame] boards, its bars, its support poles, its sockets or bases; 34 and the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of [a]porpoise skins, and the veil (partition) of the screen (curtain); 35 the ark of the Testimony, its carrying poles and the mercy seat; 36 the table and all its utensils and the bread of the Presence (showbread); 37 the pure gold lampstand and its lamps, with the lamps placed in order, all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38 the golden altar [of incense], the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the [hanging] veil for the doorway of the tent; 39 the bronze altar [of burnt offering] and its grating of bronze, its poles and all its utensils, the basin and its base; 40 the curtains of the courtyard, its support poles and sockets, and the screen (curtain) for the courtyard gate, its cords and pegs, and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people];(B) 41 the [finely] woven garments for serving and ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister as priests. 42 So the Israelites did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 And Moses [carefully] inspected all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. So Moses blessed them.
Footnotes
- Exodus 39:34 The meaning of the Hebrew word is not certain; some scholars have suggested that the material is instead a fine leather of unspecified origin.