EXODUS - Chapter 28

"Then bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priest to Me--Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

"You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.

"These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister as priest to Me.

"They shall take the gold and the blue and the purple and scarlet and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful workman. It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined. The skillfully woven band, which is on it, shall be like its workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twisted linen.

"You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, according to their birth. As a jeweler engraves a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel; you shall set them in filigree of gold. You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before YAHWEH on his two shoulders for a memorial.

"You shall make filigree settings of gold, and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them of twisted cordage work, and you shall put the corded chains on the filigree settings.

"You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twisted linen  you shall make it. It shall be square folded double, a span in length and a span in width.

"You shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row a row of ruby, topaz and emerald; and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree. The stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be the engravings of a seal, each according to his name for the twelve tribes.

"You shall make on the breastpiece chains of twisted cordage work in pure gold. You shall make on the breastpiece two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. You shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. You shall put the 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.

"You shall make two rings of gold and shall place them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on the edge of it, which is toward the inner side of the ephod. You shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. They shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece will not come loose from the ephod.

"Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he enters the holy place, for a memorial before YAHWEH continually.

"You shall put in the breastpiece of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before YAHWEH; and Aaron shall carry the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before YAHWEH continually.

"You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. You shall make on its hem pomegranate of blue and purple and scarlet, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. It shall be on Aaron when he ministers; and its tinkling shall be heard when he enters and leaves the holy place before YAHWEH, so that he will not die.

"You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, 'Holy to YAHWEH.' You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before YAHWEH.

"You shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen, and shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of a weaver. For Aaron's sons you shall make tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty.

"You shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve Me as priests.

"You shall make for them linen breeches to cover bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur guilt and die. I shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.

Chapter 29

"Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me; take one young bull and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams.

"Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

"You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. so you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

"Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. You shall slaughter the bull before YAHWEH at the doorway of the tent of meeting. You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.

"You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse,  you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

"You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put with its pieces and its head. You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to YAHWEH; it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to YAHWEH

"Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the lobes of his sons' right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar.

"Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons' garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons' garments with him.

"You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is before YAHWEH; and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before YAHWEH. You shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before YAHWEH; it is an offering by fire to YAHWEH.

"Then you shall take the breast of Aaron's ram of ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before YAHWEH; and it shall be your portion. You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering which was waved and which was offered from the ram of ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their heave offering to YAHWEH.

"The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, that in them they may be anointed and ordained. For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.

"You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Thus they shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat, because they are holy. If any of the flesh of ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

"Thus you shall do to Aaron and too his sons, according to all that I have commanded  you; you shall ordain them through seven days. Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it.

"For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

"Now this is what you shall offer on the altar; two one year old lambs each day, continuously. The one lamb  you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to YAHWEH. It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before YAHWEH, where I will meet with  you, to speak to you there.

"I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their Elohim.

"They shall know that I am YAHWEH their Elohim who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am YAHWEH their Elohim.

Chapter 30

"Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. Its length a cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height two cubits; its horns of one piece with it. You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it.

"You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls--on opposite sides--and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

"You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.

"Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before YAHWEH throughout your generations.

"You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.

"Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to YAHWEH."

YAHWEH also spoke to Moses, saying,

"When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to YAHWEH, when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them.

"This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to YAHWEH. Everyone who is numbered from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to YAHWEH. The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to YAHWEH to make atonement for yourselves.

"You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before YAHWEH, to make atonement for yourselves."

YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,

"You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they will not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire to YAHWEH. so they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations."

Moreover, YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,

"Take also, for yourself the finest of spices; of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty, and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and it stand. You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy.

"You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me. You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'this shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generation. It shall not be poured on anyone's body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman, shall be cut off from his people.'"

Then YAHWEH said to Moses, "Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. With it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, holy. You shall beat some of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.

"The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for  yourselves; it shall be holy to you for YAHWEH. Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people."

HalleluYah!