Darwinian apologists lose no time trying to rewrite history re:Junk DNA.

Will Darwinists try to pull a "Flock of Dodos" and Rewrite the History of Junk-DNA?

Casey Luskin June 22, 2007 2:48 AM

Junk-DNA is clearly going the way of the dodo, in more ways than one. The film Flock of Dodos has become a textbook example of Darwinists attempting to rewrite history to erase their past scientific and textbook mistakes. Now that we're witnessing the apparent death of the "Junk-DNA" Neo-Darwinian paradigm, some pro-Darwin bloggers are already trying to rewrite history by claiming that Neo-Darwinism never supported the "junk-DNA" hypothesis after all. As oneScienceblogger wrote, "If you read evolgen you know that the term 'Junk DNA' is crap. From an evolutionary viewpoint it also seemed a bit peculiar to relegate most of the genome to non-functional status..." Just how valid is that statement? In 1995, Scientific American plainly expounded that under the Neo-Darwinian view, "[t]hese regions have traditionally been regarded as useless accumulations of material from millions of years of evolution." The view that non-coding DNA is "junk" has been adamantly promoted by TalkOrigins for years, as one leading contributor confidently asserted in 2001 that "[m]ost of human DNA is junk DNA." To be sure, over the years some rogue Darwinian biologists have bucked the consensus and promoted the view that non-coding DNA isn't mostly junk. But this doesn't change the fact that many leading Darwinists have had a long history of promoting the view that non-coding DNA is largely useless "junk." The comments above, and the quotes below document some examples of Darwinists asserting that non-coding DNA is thought to be "junk":

Susumu Ohno, a leader in the field of genetics and evolutionary biology, explained in 1972 in an early study of non-coding DNA that, "they are the remains of nature's experiments which failed. The earth is strewn with fossil remains of extinct species; is it a wonder that our genome too is filled with the remains of extinct genes?"[1]

In 1994, the authoritative textbook, Molecular Biology of the Cell, co-authored by National Academy of Sciences president Bruce Alberts, suggested (incorrectly!) that introns are "largely genetic 'junk'":

Unlike the sequence of an exon, the exact nucleotide sequence of an intron seems to be unimportant. Thus introns have accumulated mutations rapidly during evolution, and it is often possible to alter most of an intron's nucleotide sequence without greatly affecting gene function. This has led to the suggestion that intron sequences have no function at all and are largely genetic "junk"...[2]

Soon thereafter, the 1995 edition of Voet & Voet's Biochemistry textbook explained that "a possibility that must be seriously entertained is that much repetitive DNA serves no useful purpose whatever for its host. Rather, it is selfish or junk DNA, a molecular parasite that, over many generations, has disseminated itself throughout the genome..."[3]

In 1996, leading origin of life theorist Christian de Duve wrote: "The simplest way to explain the surplus DNA is to suppose that it is a parasite or at best a harmless but useless passenger, hitching a ride in the survival machines created by the other DNA."[4] Another leading biologist, Sydney Brenner argued in a biology journal in 1998 that: "The excess DNA in our genomes is junk, and it is there because it is harmless, as well as being useless, and because the molecular processes generating extra DNA outpace those getting rid of it."[5] (Richard Dawkins makes similar pronouncements that DNA is junk in an article after 1998, here.)

Given the behavior of Darwinists in Flock of Dodos as they denied that Haeckel's embryo drawings have been misused in modern textbooks, one might suspect that Darwinists will try to rewrite history to claim their paradigm never called non-coding DNA "junk." Will junk-DNA truly go the way of the dodo?

Citations:

[1]. Susumu Ohno, "So much 'junk' DNA in our genome," Brook Haven Symposia in Biology, Vol. 23:366-370 (1972).

[2]. Bruce Alberts, Dennis Bray, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, and James D. Watson, Molecular biology of the Cell, pg. 373 (3rd Ed., 1994).

[3]. Donald Voet & Judith Voet, Biochemistry, pg. 1138 (1995).

[4]. Christian de Duve, Vital Dust: Life as a Cosmic Imperative, Basic Books, pg., 222-223 (1996).

[5]. Sydney Brenner, "Refuge of spandrels," Current Biology, Vol. 8(19): R669 (1998).

Exodus22-28NWT(2013 Edition)

22 “If a man steals a bull or a sheep and he slaughters or sells it, he is to compensate with five bulls for the bull and four sheep for the sheep.+

2 (“If a thief+ is found in the act of breaking in and he gets struck and dies, there is no bloodguilt for him. 3 But if it happens after sunrise, there is bloodguilt for him.)

“He must make compensation. If he has nothing, then he must be sold for the things he stole. 4 If what he stole is found alive in his possession, whether it is a bull or a donkey or a sheep, he is to make double compensation.

5 “If anyone puts his animals out to graze in a field or a vineyard and lets them graze in someone else’s field, he is to make compensation with the best of his own field or with the best of his own vineyard.

6 “If a fire starts and spreads to thornbushes and it causes sheaves or standing grain or a field to be consumed, the one who started the fire must make compensation for what was burned.

7 “If a man gives his fellow man money or articles to keep and these are stolen from the fellow man’s house, if the thief is found, he must make double compensation.+ 8 If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must be brought before the true God+ in order to determine whether he put his hand on the goods of his fellow man. 9 In all cases of illegal possession of goods, concerning a bull, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or anything lost of which he may say, ‘This is mine!’ both parties will present their case before the true God.+ The one whom God pronounces guilty is to make double compensation to his fellow man.+

10 “If a man gives his fellow man a donkey or a bull or a sheep or any domestic animal to keep and it dies or gets maimed or gets led away while nobody is looking, 11 there should be an oath made between them before Jehovah, that he did not lay his hand on the goods of his fellow man; and the owner must accept it. The other man is not to make compensation.+ 12 But if the animal has been stolen from him, he is to make compensation to its owner. 13 If it was torn by a wild animal, he is to bring it as evidence. He is not to make compensation for something torn by a wild animal.

14 “But if anybody asks to borrow an animal from his fellow man and it gets maimed or it dies while its owner is not with it, the man who borrowed it must make compensation. 15 If its owner is with it, he is not to make compensation. If it was hired, the money paid for the hire is the compensation.

16 “Now if a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and he lies down with her, he must pay the bride-price for her to become his wife.+ 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he is to pay the money at the rate of the bride-price.

18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live.+

19 “Anyone lying down with an animal must surely be put to death.+

20 “Whoever sacrifices to any gods but Jehovah alone is to be devoted to destruction.+

21 “You must not mistreat a foreign resident or oppress him,+ for you were foreign residents in the land of Egypt.+

22 “You must not afflict any widow or fatherless child.*+ 23 If you afflict him at all, so that he cries out to me, I will unfailingly hear his outcry;+ 24 and my anger will blaze, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will become widows, and your children will be fatherless.

25 “If you lend money to anyone poor* of my people, someone who is dwelling with you, you must not become like a moneylender* to him. You must not charge him interest.+

26 “If you seize the garment of your fellow man as security for a loan,*+ you are to return it to him by sunset. 27 For it is his only covering, his clothing to cover his body;* in what will he lie down to sleep?+ When he cries out to me, I will certainly hear, for I am compassionate.*+

28 “You must not curse* God+ nor curse a chieftain* among your people.+

29 “You must not hesitate to make offerings from your abundant produce and the overflow of your presses.*+ The firstborn of your sons you are to give to me.+30 This is what you should do with your bull and your sheep:+ Seven days it will continue with its mother. On the eighth day, you are to give it to me.+

31 “You should prove yourselves holy people to me,+ and you must not eat the flesh of anything in the field that has been torn by a wild animal.+ You should throw it to the dogs.

23 “You must not spread* a report that is not true.+ Do not cooperate with a wicked one by becoming a malicious witness.+ 2 You must not follow after the crowd to do evil, and you must not pervert justice by giving testimony to go along with the crowd.* 3 You must show impartiality in the dispute of a poor person.+

4 “If you come upon your enemy’s bull or his donkey straying, you must return it to him.+ 5 If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has fallen under its load, you must not ignore it and leave. You must help him release the animal.+

6 “You are not to pervert the judgment of the poor one among you in his legal case.+

7 “Have nothing to do with a false accusation,* and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not declare the wicked one righteous.*+

8 “You must not accept a bribe, for the bribe blinds clear-sighted men and can distort the words of righteous men.+

9 “You must not oppress a foreign resident. You know how it feels to be a foreigner,* because you were foreign residents in the land of Egypt.+

10 “You are to sow your land with seed and gather its produce for six years.+11 But the seventh year you should leave it uncultivated and let it lie fallow, and the poor among your people will eat of it, and what they leave, the wild animals of the field will eat. That is what you should do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “Six days you are to do your work; but on the seventh day, you are to cease from your labor, in order that your bull and your donkey may rest and the son of your slave girl and the foreign resident may refresh themselves.+

13 “You must be careful to do all that I have said to you,+ and you must not mention the names of other gods; they should not be heard on your lips.*+

14 “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.+ 15 You will observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread.+ You will eat unleavened bread for seven days, just as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Aʹbib,*+ for at that time you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed.+ 16 Also, you are to observe the Festival of Harvest* of the first ripe fruits of your labors, of what you sow in the field;+ and the Festival of Ingathering* at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the results of your labors.+ 17 Three times a year all your men* are to appear before the true Lord, Jehovah.+

18 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened. And the sacrifices of fat offered at my festivals should not stay overnight until the morning.

19 “You are to bring the best of the first ripe fruits of your ground to the house of Jehovah your God.+

“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.+

20 “I am sending an angel ahead of you+ to guard you on the way and to bring you into the place that I have prepared.+ 21 Pay attention to him, and obey his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions,+because my name is in him. 22 However, if you strictly obey his voice and do all that I say, I will show hostility to your enemies and oppose those who oppose you.23 For my angel will go ahead of you and will bring you to the Amʹor·ites, the Hitʹtites, the Perʹiz·zites, the Caʹnaan·ites, the Hiʹvites, and the Jebʹu·sites, and I will annihilate them.+ 24 You must not bow down to their gods or be persuaded to serve them, and you must not imitate their practices.+ Instead, you must demolish them and smash their sacred pillars.+ 25 You must serve Jehovah your God,+ and he will bless your bread and your water.+ I will remove sickness from among you.+ 26 The women in your land will not suffer a miscarriage or be barren,+ and I will give you a full life span.*

27 “I will send the fear of me ahead of you,+ and I will throw into confusion all the people you encounter, and I will cause all your enemies to flee from you in defeat.*+ 28 I will send the feeling of dejection* ahead of you,+ and it will drive the Hiʹvites, the Caʹnaan·ites, and the Hitʹtites out from before you.+ 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, so that the land does not become desolate and the wild animals of the field multiply against you.+ 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.+

31 “I will set your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Phi·lisʹtines and from the wilderness to the River;*+ for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you.+ 32 You must not make a covenant with them or their gods.+ 33 They should not dwell in your land, so that they may not cause you to sin against me. If you should serve their gods, it would surely become a snare to you.”+

24 Then he said to Moses: “Go up to Jehovah, you and Aaron, Naʹdab and A·biʹhu,+ and 70 of the elders of Israel, and bow down from a distance. 2 Moses should approach Jehovah by himself; but the others should not approach, and the people should not go up with him.”+

3 Then Moses came and related to the people all the words of Jehovah and all the judicial decisions,+ and all the people answered with one voice: “All the words that Jehovah has spoken, we are willing to do.”+ 4 So Moses wrote down all the words of Jehovah.+ Then he got up early in the morning and built at the foot of the mountain an altar and 12 pillars corresponding to the 12 tribes of Israel. 5 After that he sent young Israelite men, and they offered up burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as communion sacrifices+ to Jehovah. 6 Then Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud to the people.+ And they said: “All that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do, and we will be obedient.”+ 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people+and said: “This is the blood of the covenant that Jehovah has made with you in harmony with all these words.”+

9 Moses and Aaron, Naʹdab and A·biʹhu, and 70 of the elders of Israel went up,10 and they saw the God of Israel.+ Under his feet was what seemed like a sapphire pavement, and it was as pure as the heavens themselves.+ 11 He did not harm the distinguished men of Israel,+ and they saw a vision of the true God and ate and drank.

12 Jehovah now said to Moses: “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there. I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment that I will write for their instruction.”+ 13 So Moses got up with his attendant Joshua,+ and Moses went up the mountain of the true God.+ 14 But to the elders he had said: “Wait here for us until we return to you.+ You have Aaron and Hur+with you. Whoever has a legal case may go to them.”+ 15 Then Moses went up the mountain while the cloud was covering it.+

16 Jehovah’s glory+ remained on Mount Siʹnai,+ and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.17 To the Israelites who were watching, the appearance of Jehovah’s glory was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop. 18 Moses then entered into the cloud and went up the mountain.+ And Moses stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.+

25 Jehovah then said to Moses: 2 “Tell the people of Israel to take up a contribution for me; from every person whose heart moves him, you are to take up my contribution.+ 3 This is the contribution that you are to accept from them: gold,+ silver,+ copper,+ 4 blue thread, purple wool,* scarlet material,* fine linen, goat hair, 5 ram skins dyed red, sealskins, acacia wood,+ 6 oil for the lamps,+ balsam for the anointing oil+ and the perfumed incense,+ 7 and onyx stones and other stones to be set in the ephʹod+ and the breastpiece.+ 8 They are to make a sanctuary for me, and I will reside* among them.+ 9 You are to make it, the tabernacle and all its furnishings, following exactly the pattern* that I am showing you.+

10 “They are to make an ark* of acacia wood, two and a half cubits* long and a cubit and a half wide and a cubit and a half high.+ 11 Then you will overlay it with pure gold.+ Inside and outside you are to overlay it, and you will make a border* of gold all around it.+ 12 And you will cast four rings of gold for it and attach them above its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 13 And you will make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.+ 14 You will put the poles through the rings on the sides of the Ark in order to carry the Ark with them. 15 The poles will stay in the rings of the Ark; they are not to be removed from it.+ 16 You will place in the Ark the Testimony that I will give you.+

17 “You will make a cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.+ 18 You are to make two cherubs of gold; you will make them of hammered work on the two ends of the cover.+ 19 Make the cherubs on the two ends, one cherub on each end of the cover. 20 The cherubs are to spread out their two wings upward, overshadowing the cover with their wings,+ and they will face each other. The faces of the cherubs will be turned toward the cover.21 You will put the cover+ on the Ark, and in the Ark you will place the Testimony that I will give you. 22 I will present myself to you there and speak with you from above the cover.+ From between the two cherubs that are on the ark of the Testimony, I will make known to you all that I will command you for the Israelites.

23 “You will also make a table+ of acacia wood, two cubits long and a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.+ 24 You will overlay it with pure gold and make a golden border* around it. 25 You will make a rim around it a handbreadth*wide and a border* of gold to go around the rim. 26 You will make for it four rings of gold and place the rings on the four corners, where the four legs are attached. 27 The rings are to be close to the rim as holders for the poles for carrying the table. 28 You will make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold and carry the table with them.

29 “You will also make its dishes, its cups, its pitchers, and its bowls from which they will pour drink offerings. You are to make them out of pure gold.+30 And you will put the showbread on the table before me constantly.+

31 “You will make a lampstand+ of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its branches, its cups, its knobs, and its blossoms will be one piece.+ 32 And six branches will extend out from the sides of the lampstand, three branches from one side and three branches from the other side. 33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers will be on the one set of branches, with knobs and blossoms alternating, and three cups shaped like almond flowers on the other set of branches, with knobs and blossoms alternating. This is how the six branches will extend out from the stem of the lampstand. 34 On the stem of the lampstand are four cups shaped like almond flowers, with its knobs and its blossoms alternating. 35 A knob will be under the first two branches that extend out of the stem and a knob under the next two branches and a knob under the next two branches, for the six branches extending out from the stem. 36 The knobs and the branches and the whole lampstand are to be one piece of pure, hammered gold.+ 37 You will make seven lamps for it, and when the lamps are lit, they will shine on the area in front of it.+38 Its snuffers* and its fire holders are to be of pure gold.+ 39 It should be made, along with these utensils, from a talent* of pure gold. 40 See that you make them after their pattern* that was shown to you on the mountain.+

26 “You are to make the tabernacle+ with ten tent cloths of fine twisted linen, blue thread, purple wool, and scarlet material. You are to make them with embroidered cherub+ designs.+ 2 Each tent cloth will be 28 cubits* long and 4 cubits wide. All the tent cloths are to be the same size.+ 3 Five tent cloths are to be joined one to another to form a series, and the other five tent cloths will be joined in a series. 4 You will make loops of blue thread on the edge of the one tent cloth at the end of the series, and you are to do the same on the outermost edge of the other set where it will join. 5 You will make 50 loops on the one tent cloth and 50 loops on the edge of the other tent cloth so that they will be opposite each other where they join. 6 You are to make 50 gold clasps and join the tent cloths together with the clasps, and the tabernacle will form one unit.+

7 “You will also make cloths of goat hair+ for the tent over the tabernacle. You will make 11 tent cloths.+ 8 Each tent cloth will be 30 cubits long and 4 cubits wide. All 11 tent cloths are to be the same size. 9 You are to join five of the tent cloths together and join the other six tent cloths together, and you are to fold over the sixth tent cloth at the front of the tent. 10 And you are to make 50 loops on the edge of the one tent cloth, the outermost one in the series, and 50 loops on the edge of the tent cloth at the other place where they join. 11 You are to make 50 copper clasps and put the clasps in the loops and join the tent together, and it will become one unit. 12 The remaining part of the tent cloths will serve as an overhanging. Half of the tent cloth that remains will hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13 The remaining length of the cloths of the tent will serve as an overhanging for the tabernacle by one cubit on each side, in order to cover it.

14 “You will also make a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of sealskins.+

15 “You will make the panel frames+ for the tabernacle out of acacia wood standing upright.+ 16 Each panel frame is to be ten cubits high and a cubit and a half wide. 17 Each panel frame has two tenons* joined to each other. That is how you should make all the panel frames of the tabernacle. 18 You are to make 20 panel frames for the south side of the tabernacle, facing south.

19 “You will make 40 silver socket pedestals+ under the 20 panel frames: two socket pedestals under the one panel frame for its two tenons and two socket pedestals under each following panel frame for its two tenons.+ 20 For the other side of the tabernacle, the northern side, make 20 panel frames 21 and their 40 silver socket pedestals, two socket pedestals under one panel frame and two socket pedestals under each following panel frame. 22 For the rear section of the tabernacle to the west, you will make six panel frames.+ 23 You will make two panel frames to serve as the two rear corner posts of the tabernacle.24 They should be doubled from the bottom to the top, up to the first ring. This should be done for both of them, and they will form the two corner posts.25 And there will be eight panel frames and their 16 silver socket pedestals, two socket pedestals under the one panel frame and two socket pedestals under each following panel frame.

26 “You will make bars of acacia wood, five for the panel frames of the one side of the tabernacle,+ 27 and five bars for the panel frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the panel frames of the side of the tabernacle to the west, for the rear section. 28 The middle bar that runs along the center of the panel frames should extend from end to end.

29 “You will overlay the panel frames with gold,+ and you will make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and you will overlay the bars with gold.30 You must set up the tabernacle according to its plan that you were shown in the mountain.+

31 “You are to make a curtain+ of blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine twisted linen. It will be made with cherubs embroidered on it. 32 You will hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold. Their hooks are to be of gold. The pillars are set on four socket pedestals of silver. 33 You will hang the curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the Testimony+ there within the curtain. The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy+ and the Most Holy.+ 34 You must put the cover on the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy.

35 “You will place the table outside the curtain, with the lampstand+ opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle; and the table you will put on the north side. 36 You will make a screen* for the entrance of the tent out of blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine twisted linen woven together.+37 You will make five pillars of acacia for the screen* and overlay them with gold. Their hooks are to be of gold, and you will cast five socket pedestals of copper for them.

27 “You will make the altar of acacia wood;+ it will be five cubits* long and five cubits wide. The altar should be square and three cubits high.+ 2 You will make horns+ on its four corners; the horns will be part of the altar, and you will overlay the altar with copper.+ 3 You will make buckets for clearing away its ashes,* along with shovels, bowls, forks, and fire holders, and you will make all its utensils of copper.+ 4 You will make a grating for the altar, a network of copper, and on the network four rings of copper at its four corners. 5 You will set it down below the rim of the altar, and the network will extend partway down into the altar. 6 You will make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with copper. 7 The poles will be inserted into the rings so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried.+ 8 You will make the altar in the form of a hollow chest of planks. It should be made just as He showed you on the mountain.+

9 “You will make the courtyard+ of the tabernacle. For the south side, facing south, the courtyard will have hanging curtains of fine twisted linen, 100 cubits long for the one side.+ 10 It will have 20 pillars with 20 copper socket pedestals. The hooks of the pillars and their connectors* are of silver. 11 The hanging curtains for the north side will also be 100 cubits long, along with its 20 pillars and their 20 copper socket pedestals, with silver hooks and connectors* for the pillars. 12 There are to be hanging curtains on the west side for 50 cubits across the width of the courtyard, with ten pillars and ten socket pedestals. 13 The width of the courtyard on the east side toward the sunrise is 50 cubits. 14 There will be 15 cubits of hanging curtains on the one side, with three pillars and three socket pedestals.+ 15 And for the other side, there will be 15 cubits of hanging curtains, with three pillars and three socket pedestals.

16 “The entrance of the courtyard should have a screen* 20 cubits long made of blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine twisted linen woven together,+ with four pillars and their four socket pedestals.+ 17 All the pillars surrounding the courtyard will have silver fasteners and silver hooks, but their socket pedestals will be of copper.+ 18 The courtyard is to be 100 cubits long,+50 cubits wide, and 5 cubits high, made from fine twisted linen, and it should have copper socket pedestals. 19 All the utensils and the items used in the service of the tabernacle, as well as its tent pins and all the pins of the courtyard, are to be of copper.+

20 “You are to command the Israelites to bring you pure, beaten olive oil for the lighting, in order to keep the lamps burning constantly.+ 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is near the Testimony,+ Aaron and his sons will arrange to keep the lamps lit from evening until morning before Jehovah.+ It is a lasting statute for all their generations to be carried out by the Israelites.+

28 “You are to summon from the Israelites your brother Aaron, along with his sons, so that he may serve as priest to me+—Aaron,+ along with Naʹdab and A·biʹhu,+ El·e·aʹzar and Ithʹa·mar,+ the sons of Aaron.+ 2 You are to make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and beauty.+ 3 You are to speak to all those who are skillful,* those whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom,+and they will make Aaron’s garments for his sanctification, so that he may serve as priest to me.

4 “These are the garments that they will make: a breastpiece,+ an ephʹod,+ a sleeveless coat,+ a checkered robe, a turban,+ and a sash;+ they will make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that he may serve as priest to me. 5 The skilled workers will use the gold, the blue thread, the purple wool, the scarlet material, and the fine linen.

6 “They are to make the ephʹod of gold, blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, and it should be embroidered.+ 7 It is to have two attached shoulder pieces that join it at its two edges. 8 The woven belt,*+which is attached to the ephʹod for tying it securely in position, should be of the same materials: gold, blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine twisted linen.

9 “You are to take two onyx stones+ and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel,+ 10 six names on the one stone and the six remaining names on the other stone, in the order of their births. 11 A stone engraver will engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones as he would engrave a seal.+ Then you are to have them mounted in gold settings. 12 You are to put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephʹod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel,+and Aaron must carry their names before Jehovah on his two shoulder pieces as a memorial. 13 You are to make settings of gold 14 and two chains of pure gold twisted like a cord,+ and you must attach the corded chains to the settings.+

15 “You are to have an embroiderer make the breastpiece of judgment.+ It should be made like the ephʹod, out of gold, blue thread, purple wool, scarlet material, and fine twisted linen.+ 16 It should be square when doubled, a span*long and a span wide. 17 You should set in it mounted stones, four rows of stones. The first row is ruby, topaz, and emerald. 18 The second row is turquoise, sapphire, and jasper. 19 The third row is leshʹem stone,* agate, and amethyst. 20 The fourth row is chrysʹo·lite, onyx, and jade. They should be mounted in settings of gold. 21 The stones will correspond to the names of the 12 sons of Israel. Each one should be engraved like a seal, each name representing one of the 12 tribes.

22 “You are to make wreathed chains on the breastpiece, like cords of pure gold.+ 23 You are to make two rings of gold for the breastpiece and attach the two rings to the two ends of the breastpiece. 24 You are to put the two cords of gold through the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. 25 You will put the two ends of the two cords through the two settings, and you must attach them to the shoulder pieces of the ephʹod, at the front. 26 You are to make two rings of gold and set them at the two ends on the inside edge of the breastpiece, facing the ephʹod.+ 27 You should make two more rings of gold on the front of the ephʹod, below the two shoulder pieces, close to where it is joined, above the woven belt* of the ephʹod.+ 28 The breastpiece should be held in place by a blue cord, tying its rings to the rings of the ephʹod. This will keep the breastpiece in place on the ephʹod, above the woven belt.*

29 “Aaron must carry the names of the sons of Israel on the breastpiece of judgment over his heart when he comes into the Holy as a constant memorial before Jehovah. 30 You will put the Uʹrim and the Thumʹmim*+ into the breastpiece of judgment, and they must be over Aaron’s heart when he comes in before Jehovah, and Aaron must carry the means for making judgments of the Israelites over his heart before Jehovah constantly.

31 “You are to make the sleeveless coat of the ephʹod entirely of blue thread.+32 There will be an opening at the top* in the middle of it. Its opening should have a border woven all around it by a loom worker. It should be like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. 33 You should make pomegranates of blue thread, purple wool, and scarlet material all around its hem, along with bells of gold in between them. 34 You should alternate a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the sleeveless coat. 35 It must be worn by Aaron so that he may minister, and the sound from it must be heard when he goes into the sanctuary before Jehovah and when he comes out, so that he will not die.+

36 “You are to make a shining plate of pure gold and engrave on it as one would engrave a seal: ‘Holiness belongs to Jehovah.’+ 37 You must fasten it to the turban+ with a blue cord; it is to remain on the front of the turban. 38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear responsibility when someone commits an error against the holy things,+ which the Israelites sanctify when they offer them as holy gifts. It must always remain on his forehead, so that they may gain approval before Jehovah.

39 “You are to weave the checkered robe of fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make a woven sash.+

40 “You will also make robes, sashes, and headgear for Aaron’s sons,+ for glory and beauty.+ 41 You will clothe your brother Aaron and his sons with him, and you are to anoint them+ and install them*+ and sanctify them, and they will serve as priests to me. 42 Also make linen shorts* for them to cover their naked flesh.+ These are to extend from the hips to the thighs. 43 These must be worn by Aaron and his sons when they come into the tent of meeting or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they may not incur guilt and die. It is a permanent statute for him and his offspring* after him.