"But their minds were hardened." Paul speaks of the minds of the Israelite people as objects that could be closed or made hard. This expression means that they were unable to understand what they saw. AT: "But the Israelites could not understand what they saw" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
Just as the Israelites could not see the glory on Moses' face because he covered his face with a veil, there is a spiritual veil that prevents people from understanding when they read the old covenant. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
Here both occurrences of the word "it" refer to "the same veil." This can be stated in active form. AT: "No one removes the veil, because only in Christ does God remove it" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])
# whenever Moses is read
Here the word "Moses" refers to the Old Testament law. This can be stated in active form. AT: "whenever someone reads the Mosaic law" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])
Here the word "hearts" represents what people think, and the people being unable to understand the old covenant is spoken of as if they have a veil that covers their hearts the way a physical veil would cover their eyes. AT: "they are unable to understand what they are hearing" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
Here "turns to" is a metaphor that means to become loyal to someone. AT: "when a person starts to worship the Lord" or "when a person starts to trust in the Lord" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
God gives them the ability to understand. This can be stated in active form. AT: "God lifts the veil away" or "God gives them the ability to understand" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])