Day 24: Exodus 28-31
The Priestly Garments, the Tabernacle, the Sabbath, & the Calling of Bezalel & Oholiab
Exodus 28
The Priestly Garments
1 “Bring near to yourself Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2 You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. 4 These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, 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, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. 5 They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.
The Ephod
6 “They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman. 7 It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. 8 The skillfully woven band, which is on it, with which to fasten it on, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel. 10 Six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, according to their birth. 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel. You shall make them enclosed in settings of gold. 12 You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel. Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for a memorial.
13 You shall make settings of gold, 14 and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work. You shall put the braided chains on the settings.
The Breastplate
15 “You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it. You shall make it of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. 16 It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length, and a span its width. 17 You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row; 18 and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be enclosed in gold in their settings. 21 The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.
22 You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. 23 You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24 You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. 25 The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in its forepart.
26 You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward. 27 You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in its forepart, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28 They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod.
29 Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually. 30 You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Yahweh. Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Yahweh continually.
Other Priestly Garments
31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have a hole for the head in its middle. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. 33 On its bottom hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, around its hem, with golden bells between them: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 It shall be on Aaron to minister in. Its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die.
36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’ 37 You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the turban. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh.
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, the work of the embroiderer.
40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats, and you shall make sashes for them, and you shall make headbands for them, for glory and for beauty. 41 You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 42 You shall make them linen pants to cover the naked flesh. They shall reach from the waist even to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they go into the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, that they don’t bear iniquity, and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and to his offspring after him.
Exodus 29
Consecration of Aaron and His Sons
1 “This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest’s office. Take one young bull and two rams without defect, 2 unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water. 5 You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and fasten him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 You shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.
8 You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them. 9 You shall fasten them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them. They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. You shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
10 “You shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 You shall kill the bull before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 12 You shall take of the bull’s blood, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the meat of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.
15 “You shall also take one ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. 18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to Yahweh. It is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
19 “You shall take the other ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 21 You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.
22 Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh; for it is a ram of consecration; 23 and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh. 24 You shall put the whole on the hands of Aaron, and on the hands of his sons, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. 25 You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before Yahweh. It is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
26 You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It shall be your portion. 27 You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved and which is offered of the ram of consecration, of that which is Aaron’s, and of that which is his sons’. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a portion forever from the children of Israel, for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their wave offering to Yahweh.
29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to anoint them in them, and to consecrate them in them. 30 Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the holy place.
31 “You shall take the ram of consecration and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34 If any of the meat of the consecration or of the bread remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “You shall do so to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them seven days. 36 Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
The Daily Offerings
38 “Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at evening. 40 With the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. 43 There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them. I am Yahweh their God.
Exodus 30
The Altar of Incense
1 “You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it. 4 You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding, on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. 8 When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. Once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”
The Atonement Money
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take a census of the children of Israel according to those who are counted among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh when you count them, that there be no plague among them when you count them. 13 They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary; the shekel is twenty gerahs. Half a shekel shall be the offering to Yahweh. 14 Everyone who passes over to those who are counted, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”
The Bronze Basin
17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “You shall also make a basin of brass, and its base of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. 20 When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die. It shall be a statute forever for them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.”
The Anointing Oil
22 Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon, half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; 24 and of cassia, five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil. 25 You shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compound after the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, 27 the table and all its vessels, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. 29 You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.
30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 31 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on man’s body, and you shall not make any like it, according to its composition. It is holy. It shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”
The Incense
34 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense. They shall be of equal weight. 35 You shall make incense of it, a perfume, the work of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 You shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 The incense which you shall make, according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be to you holy for Yahweh. 38 Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”
Exodus 31
Bezalel and Oholiab
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Behold, I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, 4 to devise skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in brass, 5 in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship.
6 I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, 8 the table and its vessels, the pure lampstand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, 10 the finely worked garments—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office— 11 the anointing oil, the incense of spices for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”
The Sabbath
12 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’”
18 He gave to Moses, when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with God’s finger.
Scripture: World English Bible (WEB), public domain.
