“And bring near to you Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from the midst of the Israelites to serve as priests for me—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron. And you will make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for glory and for splendor. And you will speak to all the skilled of heart, whom I have given a gift of skill, and they will make the garments of Aaron to consecrate him for his serving as my priest. And these are the garments that they will make: A breast piece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of specially woven fabric, a turban and a sash. And they will make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and for his sons to serve as priests for me.

“And they will take the gold and the blue and the purple and the crimson yarns and the fine linen, and they will make the ephod of gold, blue and purple, and crimson yarns, and finely twisted linen, the work of a skilled craftsman. It will have two joining shoulder pieces at its two edges, so that it can be fastened. And the waistband of his ephod, which is on it, will be of like work to it—gold, blue, and purple and crimson yarns and finely twisted linen.

“And you will take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the Israelites, with six of their names on the one stone and the remaining six on the second, according to their genealogies. As the work of a skilled stone craftsman, with seal engravings you will engrave on the two stones the names of the Israelites; you will make them mounted in gold filigree settings. And you will set the two stones on the ephod’s shoulder pieces as stones of remembrance for the Israelites, and Aaron will bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulder pieces for remembrance.

“And you will make gold filigree settings. And you will make two braided chains of pure gold ornamental cord work, and you will put the chains of the ornamental cords on the filigree settings. And you will make a breast piece of judgment, a work of a skilled craftsman; you will make it like the work of the ephod; you will make it of gold, blue and purple and crimson yarns, and finely twisted linen. It will be squared, doubled, a span its length and a span its width. And you will fill it with stone mounting, four rows of stone, a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald is the first row; and the second row is a malachite, a sapphire, and a moonstone; and the third row is a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row is a turquoise and an onyx and a jasper. Their settings will be woven with gold. The stones will be according to the names of the Israelites, twelve according to their names, with seal engravings, each according to its name they will be for the twelve tribes.

“And you will make on the breast piece braided chains, a work of pure gold ornamental cord. And you will make on the breast piece two gold rings, and you will put the two rings on the two edges of the breast piece. And you will put the two gold ornamental cords on the two rings on the edges of the breast piece. And you will put the two ends of the two ornamental cords on the two filigree settings, and you will put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. And you will make two gold rings, and you will place them on the two ends of the breast piece, on its edge that is on the other side of the ephod, to the inside. And you will make two rings and put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod below at its front near its seam above the waistband of the ephod. And they will tie the breast piece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord to be on the waistband of the ephod, and the breast piece will not come loose from the ephod. And Aaron will bear the names of the Israelites in the breast piece of judgment on his heart, when he comes to the sanctuary, for a remembrance before Yahweh continually. And you will put the Urim and the Thummim on the breast piece of judgment, and they will be on the heart of Aaron when he comes before Yahweh, and Aaron will bear the judgment of the Israelites on his heart before Yahweh continually.

“And you will make the robe of the ephod totally of blue yarn. And the opening for his head will be in the middle of it; its opening will have an edge all around, the work of a weaver; it will be like the opening of a sturdy garment for it, so that it will not be torn. And you will make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and crimson yarns on its hem all around and bells of gold in the midst of them all around, a gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe all around. And it will be on Aaron for serving, and its sound will be heard at his coming into the sanctuary before Yahweh and at his going out, so that he will not die.

“And you will make a pure gold rosette, and you will engrave on it with seal engravings: “A holy object for Yahweh.” And you will place it on a blue cord, and it will be on the turban, at the front of the turban it will be. And it will be on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron will bear the guilt of the holy objects that the Israelites will consecrate for all their holy gifts, and it will be on his forehead continually for acceptance for them before Yahweh.

“And you will weave the tunic of fine linen, and you will make a turban of fine linen, and you will make a sash, the work of an embroiderer. And for the sons of Aaron you will make tunics, and you will make for them sashes and headdresses; you will make them for glory and for splendor. And you will clothe them—Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him—and you will anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, and they will serve as priests for me. And make for them undergarments of linen to cover naked flesh; they will be from loins to thigh. And they will be on Aaron and on his sons when they come to the tent of assembly or when they approach the altar to serve in the sanctuary, so that they will not bear guilt and die. It is a lasting statute for him and for his offspring after him.

“And this is the thing that you will do for them to consecrate them to serve as a priest for me: Take one young bull and two rams without defect and unleavened bread and unleavened, ring-shaped bread cakes mixed with oil, and wafers of unleavened breads smeared with oil. You will make them with finely milled wheat flour, and you will put them on one basket, and you will bring them on the basket and bring the bull and the two rams. And you will bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of assembly, and you will wash them with water. And you will take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic and the robe of the ephod, and you will fasten to him the ephod and the breast piece with the waistband of the ephod. And you will set the turban on his head, and you will put the holy diadem on the turban. And you will take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. And you will bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. And you will gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and wrap headdresses on them. And priesthood will be theirs as a lasting rule, and you will ordain Aaron and his sons.

“And you will bring the bull before the tent of assembly, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the bull. And you will slaughter the bull before Yahweh at the entrance of the tent of assembly. And you will take some of the blood of the bull and with your finger put it on the horns of the altar, and you will pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. And you will take and turn into smoke on the altar all the fat covering the inner parts and the lobe on the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them. And the flesh of the bull and its skin and its offal you will burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

“And you will take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the ram. And you will slaughter the ram and take its blood and sprinkle it on the altar all around. And you will cut the ram into pieces and wash its inner parts, and you will put its legs with its pieces and with its head. And you will turn into smoke on the altar all of the ram; it is a burnt offering for Yahweh; it is a smell of appeasement, an offering by fire for Yahweh.

“And you will take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on the head of the ram. And you will slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe and on the right earlobe of his sons and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and you will sprinkle the blood at the base of the altar all around. And you will take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and you will spatter it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him, and he will be sacred, and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. And you will take from the ram the fat and the fat tail and the fat covering the inner parts and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh, because it is the ram of ordination.

“And one loaf of bread and one ring-shaped bread cake of oiled bread and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh— you will put them all on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and you will wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh. And you will take them from their hand and turn them to smoke on the altar beside the burnt offering as a fragrance of appeasement before Yahweh; it is an offering made by fire before Yahweh.

“And you will take the breast section from the ram of ordination that is for Aaron, and you will wave it as a wave offering before Yahweh. It will be your portion. And you will consecrate the wave offering breast section and the thigh of the contribution that was waved and that was presented from the ram of the ordination that is for Aaron and for his sons. And it will be for Aaron and for his sons as a lasting rule from the Israelites, because it is a contribution, and it will be a contribution from the Israelites from their sacrifices of fellowship, their contribution to Yahweh.

“And the holy garments that are for Aaron will be for his sons after him in which to anoint them and to ordain them. Seven days the priest who replaces him from among his sons will wear them, who comes to the tent of assembly to serve in the sanctuary. And you will take the ram of ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. And Aaron and his sons will eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the tent of assembly. And they will eat them—the things by which atonement was made for them to ordain them to consecrate them—and a stranger will not eat them because they are holy objects. If any remains until morning from the ordination meat or from the bread, you will burn the remainder in fire; it will not be eaten, because it is a holy object. And you will do so for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; seven days you will ordain them.

“And you will offer a bull for a sin offering every day for the atonement; and you will offer a sin offering on the altar when you make atonement for it, and you will anoint it to consecrate it. Seven days you will make atonement for the altar, and you will consecrate it, and the altar will be a most holy thing. Anyone who touches the altar will be holy.

“And this is what you shall offer on the altar: Two one-year-old male lambs every day continually. The first lamb you will offer in the morning, and the second lamb you will offer at twilight. And a tenth of finely milled flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine as a libation with the first lamb. And the second lamb you will offer at twilight; you will offer a grain offering and its libation like that of the morning for a fragrance of appeasement, an offering made by fire for Yahweh. It will be a burnt offering of continuity throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of assembly before Yahweh, where I will meet with you to speak to you there.

“And I will meet with the Israelites there, and it will be consecrated by my glory. And I will consecrate the tent of assembly and the altar, and Aaron and his sons I will consecrate to serve as priests for me. And I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites, and I will be their God. And they will know that I am Yahweh, their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt in order to dwell in their midst. I am Yahweh their God.

“And you will make an altar for burning incense; you will make it of acacia wood, a cubit its length and a cubit its width—it will be square—and two cubits its height, its horns of one piece with it. And you will overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around and its horns, and you will make for it a gold molding all around. And you will make two gold rings for it; under its molding on two opposite sides you will make them as holders for poles to carry it with them. You will make the poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with gold. And you will put it before the curtain that is upon the ark of the testimony, before the atonement cover, which is on the testimony, there where I will meet with you.

“And on it Aaron will turn fragrant incense into smoke; each morning when he tends the lamps, he will turn it into smoke. And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he will turn it into smoke—incense of continuity—before Yahweh throughout your generations. You will not offer on it strange incense or a burnt offering or a grain offering, and you will not pour a libation on it. And Aaron will make atonement on its horns one time in the year from the blood of the sin offering of the atonement; one time in the year he will make atonement on it throughout your generations; it is a most holy thing for Yahweh.”

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, they will each give the ransom of his life for Yahweh when counting them, and a plague will not be among them when counting them. This they will give, everyone who is counted, the half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs per shekel. The half shekel is a contribution for Yahweh. Everyone who is counted from twenty years old and above will give the contribution of Yahweh. The rich will not give more, and the poor will not give less than the half shekel to give the contribution of Yahweh to make atonement for their lives. And you will take the atonement money from the Israelites and give it to the service of the tent of assembly, and it will be as a memorial for the Israelites before Yahweh to make atonement for your lives.”

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “And you will make a basin of bronze and its bronze stand for washing, and you will put it between the tent of assembly and the altar, and you will put water there. And Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and their feet with it. When they come to the tent of assembly, they will wash with water so that they do not die, or when they approach the altar to serve by turning to smoke an offering made by fire to Yahweh. And they will wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die, and it will be a lasting rule for them—to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “And take for yourself top quality balsam oils, five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, half as much—two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant reed, and five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil. And you will make it into holy anointing oil, a spice blend of a fragrant ointment the work of a perfumer; it will be holy anointing oil. And you will anoint with it the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its equipment and the lampstand and its equipment and the incense altar, and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment and the basin and its stand. And you will consecrate them, and they will be most holy things; anyone who touches them will be holy. And you will anoint Aaron and his sons, and you will consecrate them to serve as priests for me.

“And you will speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It will not be poured on human flesh, and with its measurements you will not make any like it; it is holy; it will be holy to you. Anyone who compounds perfume like it and who puts it on a stranger will be cut off from his people.'”

And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself fragrant perfumes—stacte resin and onycha and galbanum—fragrant perfumes and pure frankincense, an equal part of each, and make it into a compound of incense, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, holy. And you will grind part of it to powder, and you will put part of it before the testimony in the tent of assembly where I will meet with you; it will be a most holy thing to you. And the incense that you will make with its measurements you will not make for yourselves; it will be holy to you for Yahweh. Anyone who makes any like it to smell it will be cut off from his people.”

And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with skill and with knowledge and with every kind of craftsmanship, to devise designs, to work with gold and with silver and with bronze, and in stonecutting for setting and in cutting wood, for doing every kind of craftsmanship. And, look, I have given with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, and I have put skill in the heart of all the skilled of heart, and they will make all that I have commanded you— the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony and the atonement cover that is on it and all the equipment of the tent, and the table and all its equipment, and the pure gold lampstand and all its equipment, and the incense altar, and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment, and the basin and its stand, and the garments of woven material, and the garments of the sanctuary for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to serve as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. According to all that I have commanded you, they will make it.

And Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, “And you, speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, because it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, in order to know that I am Yahweh, who consecrates you. And you must keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; defilers of it will surely be put to death, because anyone who does work on it—that person will be cut off from among his people. On six days work can be done, and on the seventh is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy day for Yahweh; anyone doing work on the Sabbath day will surely be put to death. The Israelites will pay attention to the Sabbath in order to fulfill the Sabbath throughout their generations as a lasting covenant. It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever, because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh he ceased and recovered.”

And when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave to Moses the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God.

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, complete my joy, so that you are in agreement, having the same love, united in spirit, having one purpose. Do nothing according to selfish ambition or according to empty conceit, but in humility considering one another better than yourselves, each of you not looking out for your own interests, but also each of you for the interests of others.

Think this in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped,

but emptied himself

by taking the form of a slave,

by becoming in the likeness of people.

And being found in appearance like a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to the point of death,

that is, death on a cross.

Therefore also God exalted him

and graciously granted him the name above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,

of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth,

and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God. Do all things without grumbling and disputing, in order that you may become blameless and innocent, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world, holding fast to the word of life, for a source of pride to me in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and rejoice with all of you. And in the same way also you rejoice and rejoice with me.

But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I also may be encouraged when I know your circumstances. For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely be concerned about your circumstances. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know his proven character, that like a child with a father he served with me for the gospel. Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see my circumstances. And I am convinced in the Lord that I myself will arrive shortly also.

But I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, but your messenger and servant of my need, because he was longing for all of you and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick, coming near to death, but God had mercy on him and not on him only, but also on me, so that I would not have grief upon grief. Therefore I am sending him with special urgency, in order that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious. Therefore welcome him in the Lord with all joy, and consider such people highly honored, because on account of the work of Christ he came near to the point of death, risking his life in order that he might make up for your inability to serve me.

Until next time, keep meditating on the word of God.