Making the Breastpiece

He(A) also made the embroidered[a] breastpiece with the same workmanship as the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.[b] 10 They mounted four rows of gemstones[c] on it.

The first row was

a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;[d]

11 the second row,

a turquoise,[e] a lapis lazuli, and a diamond;[f]

12 the third row,

a jacinth,[g] an agate, and an amethyst;

13 and the fourth row,

a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper.

They were surrounded with gold filigree in their settings.

14 The twelve stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the twelve tribes.

15 They made braided chains of pure gold cord for the breastpiece. 16 They also fashioned two gold filigree settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to its two corners. 17 Then they attached the two gold cords to the two gold rings on the corners of the breastpiece. 18 They attached the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way they attached them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in front. 19 They made two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod. 20 They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam,[h] above the ephod’s woven waistband. 21 Then they tied the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the ephod’s waistband and did not come loose from the ephod. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. 39:8 Or woven
  2. 39:9 Lit a span its length and a span its width
  3. 39:10 Many of these stones cannot be identified with certainty.
  4. 39:10 Or beryl
  5. 39:11 Or malachite, or garnet
  6. 39:11 Hb uncertain; LXX, Vg read jasper
  7. 39:12 Hb obscure
  8. 39:20 The place where the shoulder pieces join the front of the ephod

The Breastpiece(A)

They fashioned the breastpiece(B)—the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It was square—a span[a] long and a span wide—and folded double. 10 Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. The first row was carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; 11 the second row was turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; 12 the third row was jacinth, agate and amethyst; 13 the fourth row was topaz, onyx and jasper.[b] They were mounted in gold filigree settings. 14 There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.(C)

15 For the breastpiece they made braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. 16 They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and fastened the rings to two of the corners of the breastpiece. 17 They fastened the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, 18 and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. 19 They made two gold rings and attached them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. 20 Then they made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. 21 They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the ephod—as the Lord commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 39:9 That is, about 9 inches or about 23 centimeters
  2. Exodus 39:13 The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.