The holy vestments for Aaron and his sons.
28:1. Take unto thee also Aaron thy brother with his sons, from among
the children of Israel, that they may minister to me in the priest's
office: Aaron, Nadab, and Abiu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
28:2. And thou shalt make a holy vesture for Aaron, thy brother, for
glory and for beauty.
28:3. And thou shalt speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled
with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's vestments, in
which he being consecrated, may minister to me.
28:4. And these shall be the vestments that they shall make: A rational
and an ephod, a tunic and a strait linen garment, a mitre and a girdle.
They shall make the holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and his sons,
that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.
28:5. And they shall take gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, and fine linen.
28:6. And they shall make the ephod of gold, and violet, and purple, and
scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, embroidered with divers
colours.
28:7. It shall have the two edges joined in the top on both sides, that
they may be closed together.
28:8. The very workmanship also, and all the variety of the work, shall
be of gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine
twisted linen.
28:9. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and shalt grave on them the
names of the children of Israel:
28:10. Six names on one stone, and the other six on the other, according
to the order of their birth.
28:11. With the work of an engraver, and the graving of a jeweller, thou
shalt engrave them with the names of the children of Israel, set in gold
and compassed about:
28:12. And thou shalt put them in both sides of the ephod, a memorial
for the children of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the
Lord upon both shoulders, for a remembrance.
28:13. Thou shalt make also hooks of gold.
28:14. And two little chains of the purest gold, linked one to another,
which thou shalt put into the hooks.
28:15. And thou shalt make the rational of judgment with embroidered
work of divers colours, according to the workmanship of the ephod, of
gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted
linen.
The rational of judgment... This part of the priest's attire, which he
wore at his breast, was called the rational of judgment; partly because
it admonished both priest and people of their duty to God, by carrying
the names of all their tribes in his presence; and by the Urim and the
Thummim, that is, doctrine and truth, which were written upon it; and
partly because it gave divine answers and oracles, as if it were
rational and endowed with judgment.
28:16. It shall be four square and doubled: it shall be the measure of a
span both in length and in breadth.
28:17. And thou shalt set in it four rows of stones. In the first row
shall be a sardius stone, and a topaz, and an emerald:
28:18. In the second a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper:
28:19. In the third a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst:
28:20. In the fourth a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl. They shall be
set in gold by their rows.
28:21. And they shall have the names of the children of Israel: with
twelve names shall they be engraved, each stone with the name of one
according to the twelve tribes.
28:22. And thou shalt make on the rational chains, linked one to
another, of the purest gold:
28:23. And two rings of gold, which thou shalt put in the two ends at
the top of the rational.
28:24. And the golden chains thou shalt join to the rings, that are in
the ends thereof.
28:25. And the ends of the chains themselves, thou shalt join together
with two hooks, on both sides of the ephod, which is towards the
rational.
28:26. Thou shalt make also two rings of gold, which thou shalt put in
the top parts of the rational, in the borders that are over against the
ephod, and look towards the back parts thereof.
28:27. Moreover also other two rings of gold, which are to be set on
each side of the ephod beneath, that looketh towards the nether joining,
that the rational may be fitted with the ephod,
28:28. And may be fastened by the rings thereof unto the rings of the
ephod with a violet fillet, that the joining artificially wrought may
continue, and the rational and the ephod may not be loosed one from the
other.
28:29. And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the
rational of judgment upon his breast, when he shall enter into the
sanctuary, a memorial before the Lord for ever.
28:30. And thou shalt put in the rational of judgment doctrine and
truth, which shall be on Aaron's breast, when he shall go in before the
Lord: and he shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his
breast, in the sight of the Lord always.
Doctrine and Truth... Hebrew, Urim and Thummim: illuminations and
perfections. These words, written on the rational, seem to signify the
light of doctrine and the integrity of life, with which the priests of
God ought to approach him.
28:31. And thou shalt make the tunic of the ephod all of violet,
28:32. In the midst whereof above shall be a hole for the head, and a
border round about it woven, as is wont to be made in the outmost parts
of garments, that it may not easily be broken.
28:33. And beneath at the feet of the same tunic, round about, thou
shalt make as it were pomegranates, of violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, with little bells set between:
28:34. So that there shall be a golden bell and a pomegranate, and again
another golden bell and a pomegranate.
28:35. And Aaron shall be vested with it in the office of his ministry,
that the sound may be heard, when he goeth in and cometh out of the
sanctuary, in the sight of the Lord, and that he may not die.
28:36. Thou shalt make also a plate of the purest gold: wherein thou
shalt grave with engraver's work, Holy to the Lord.
28:37. And thou shalt tie it with a violet fillet, and it shall be upon
the mitre,
28:38. Hanging over the forehead of the high priest. And Aaron shall
bear the iniquities of those things, which the children of Israel have
offered and sanctified, in all their gifts and offerings. And the plate
shall be always on his forehead, that the Lord may be well pleased with
them.
28:39. And thou shalt gird the tunic with fine linen, and thou shalt
make a fine linen mitre, and a girdle of embroidered work.
28:40. Moreover, for the sons of Aaron thou shalt prepare linen tunics,
and girdles and mitres for glory and beauty:
28:41. And with all these things thou shalt vest Aaron thy brother, and
his sons with him. And thou shalt consecrate the hands of them all, and
shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.
28:42. Thou shalt make also linen breeches, to cover the flesh of their
nakedness, from the reins to the thighs:
28:43. And Aaron and his sons shall use them when they shall go into the
tabernacle of the testimony, or when they approach to the altar to
minister in the sanctuary, lest being guilty of iniquity they die. It
shall be a law for ever to Aaron, and to his seed after him.