Weekly Torah Readings: T’tsaveh
(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
T’tsaveh
27:20. “And you, yourself, will command the children of Israel to bring you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. 21. In the Tent of Meeting outside the veil, which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons will order it from evening to morning before the LORD*. (Acts 7:44) It will be a statute forever to their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.”
Priestly Garments
28.1. “And take for yourself Aaron your brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, so he can minister to Me in the priest’s office, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Elazar and Itamar, Aaron’s sons. 2. And you will make holy garments for Aaron your brother for glory and for beauty. 3. And you will speak to all who are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, so they can make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, so he can minister to Me in the priest’s office.
28:4. “And these are the garments which they will make; a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a tunic woven with a pattern, a turban, and a belt, and they will make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, so he can minister to Me in the priest’s office. 5. And they will take gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, fine linen.
28:6. “And they will make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, fine woven linen, with skillful work. 7. It will have its two shoulder-pieces joined at its two edges, and so it will be joined together. 8. And the belt of the ephod, which is on it, will be of the same skillful workmanship; gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, fine woven linen. 9. And you will take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel: 10. six of their names on one stone and names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. 11. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you will engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: you will make them to be set in settings of gold. 12. And you will put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial to the children of Israel and Aaron will bear their names before the LORD* upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
28:13. “And you will make settings of gold; 14. And two chains of pure gold at the ends, you will make them of twisted work and fasten the twisted chains to the settings.
28:15. “And you will make the breastplate of judgment with skillful work, after the work of the ephod you will make it of gold, of blue, of purple, and of scarlet, you will make it of fine woven linen. 16. It will be four-square, being doubled: a span will be its length and a span will be its width. 17. And you will set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: the first row will be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this will be the first row. 18. And the second row will be a ruby, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19. And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 20. And the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they will be enclosed in settings of gold. 21. And the stones will be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with his name will they be according to the twelve tribes. (Rev. 21:12)
28:22. “And upon the breastplate you will make chains at the ends of braided work of pure gold. 23. And you will make upon the breastplate two rings of gold and will put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 4. And you will put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate. 25. And the other two ends of the two braided chains you will fasten in the two settings and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it. 26. And you will make two rings of gold and you will put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in its border, which is on the inside of the ephod. 27. And you will make two rings of gold and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it opposite its other coupling, above the belt of the ephod. 28. And they will bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so it will be above the belt of the ephod and so the breastplate would not be loosed from the ephod. 29. And Aaron will bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goes in to the Holy Place, for a memorial before the LORD* continually. 30. And you will put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate of judgment and they will be upon Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the LORD*, and Aaron will carry the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the LORD* continually.
28:31. “And you will make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32. And there will be a hole in the top of it, in the middle of it: it will have a binding of woven work around the hole of it, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, so it will not be torn.
33. And upon its hem you will make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around, 34. a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. 35. And it will be upon Aaron to minister and its sound will be heard when he goes in to the Holy Place before the LORD*, and when he comes out, so he will not die.
28:36. “And you will make a pure gold plate and engrave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD*. 37. And you will put it on a blue lace that will be on the turban. It will be upon the forefront of the turban. 38. And it will be upon Aaron’s forehead, so Aaron can bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel will sanctify in all their holy gifts; and it will be always upon his forehead, so they will be accepted before the LORD*.
28:39. “And you will weave the tunic of fine linen and you will make the fine linen turban and you will make the belt of needlework. 40. And for Aaron’s sons you will make tunics and you will make belts for them and you will make hats for them, for glory and for beauty. 41. And you will put them upon Aaron your brother and his sons with him, and will anoint them and consecrate them and sanctify them, so they can minister to Me in the priest’s office. 42. And you will make linen breeches to cover their nakedness; they will reach from the loins even to the thighs, 43. and they will be upon Aaron and upon his sons when they come into the Tent of Meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so they will not bear iniquity and die. It will be a statute forever for him and his seed after him.”
Instructions to Sanctify Priests
29.1. “And this is the thing that you will do to sanctify them to minister to Me in the priest’s office. Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2. and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, you will make them of wheat flour. 3. And you will put them in one basket and bring them in the basket with the bull and the two rams. 4. And you will bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting and will immerse them in water. 5. And you will take the garments and put the tunic on Aaron and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate and gird him with the belt of the ephod. 6. And you will put the turban on his head and put the holy crown upon the turban. 7. Then you will take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him. 8. And you will bring his sons and put tunics upon them. 9. And you will gird them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them, and the priest’s office will be theirs for a perpetual statute, and you will consecrate Aaron and his sons.
29:10. “And you will cause a bull to be brought before the Tent of Meeting and Aaron and his sons will put their hands on the head of the bull. 11. And you will kill the bull before the LORD*, by the door of the Tent of Meeting. 12. And you will take of the blood of the bull and put it upon the horns of the altar with your finger and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. 13. And you will take all the fat that covers the innards and the appendage above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. 14. But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung, you will burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin offering.
29:15. “You will also take one ram and Aaron and his sons will put their hands on the head of the ram. 16. And you will slay the ram and you will take its blood and sprinkle it all around the altar. 17. And you will cut the ram in pieces and wash its innards and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. 18. And you will burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD*, a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to the LORD*.
29:19. “And you will take the other ram and Aaron and his sons will put their hands on the head of the ram. 20. Then you will kill the ram and take of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons and upon the thumb of their right hand and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around the altar. 21. And you will take of the blood that is on the altar and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and upon his garments and upon his sons and upon the garments of his sons with him, and he will be sanctified and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 22. Also you will take the fat and the rump of the ram and the fat that covers the innards and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right shoulder; 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 the unleavened bread that is before the LORD*, 24. and you will put all in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you will wave them for a wave offering before the LORD*. 25. And you will take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor before the LORD*: it is an offering made by fire to the LORD*. 26. And you will take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD*: and it will be your part. 27. And you will sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. 28. And it will be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute forever from the children of Israel; for it is a heave offering and it will be a heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offering, their heave offering to the LORD*.
29:29. “And the holy garments of Aaron will be his sons’ after him, in which to be anointed and to be filled in them. 30. And that son that is priest in his stead will put them on seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.
29:31. “And you will take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in the Holy Place. 32. And Aaron and his sons will eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tent of meeting. 33. And they will eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them, but a stranger will not eat of it, because they are holy. 34. And if any of the flesh of the consecrations or of the bread remains in the morning, then you will burn the remainder with fire. It will not be eaten, because it is holy.
29:35. “And thus will you do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded you: for seven days you will consecrate them. 36. And you will offer every day a bull for a sin offering for atonement and you will cleanse the altar when you have made atonement for it, and you will anoint it to sanctify it. 37. Seven days you will make atonement for the altar and sanctify it and it will be an altar most holy: whatever touches the altar will be holy. 38. Now this is what you will offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. 39. The one lamb you will offer in the morning; and the other lamb you will offer at evening. 40. And with the one lamb a tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. 41. And the other lamb you will offer at evening and will do according to the grain offering of the morning and according to the drink offering, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to the LORD*. 42. This will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before the LORD* where I shall meet you, to speak there to you. 43. And there I shall meet with the children of Israel, and it will be sanctified by My glory. 44. And I shall sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I shall sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to Me in the priest’s office. 45. And I shall dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.
46. And they will know that I AM the LORD* their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, so I could dwell among them. I AM the LORD* their God.”
Incense Altar
30.1. “And you will make an altar on which to burn incense: you will make it of acacia. 2. A cubit will be the length of it and a cubit the breadth of it. It will be four-square and its height will be two cubits: its horns will be of the same. 3. And you will overlay it with pure gold, the top of it and the sides of it all around and its horns, and you will make a crown of gold all around it. 4. And you will make two golden rings for it under its crown upon each of its two sides, by its two corners and they will be places for the poles to carry it. 5. And you will make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6. And you will put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the cover that is over the testimony, where I shall meet with you. 7. And Aaron will burn sweet incense on it every morning. When he dresses the lamps, he will burn incense upon it. 8. And when Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he will burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD* throughout your generations. 9. You will offer no strange incense on it, or burnt offering, or grain offering: neither will you pour a drink offering on it. 10. And Aaron will make atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year will he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy to the LORD
Next week’s Torah readings: Ki Tisa