Bible Strands
Ezekiel 44:23
They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the priests through Ezekiel, defining their instructional role in the restored temple community.
The words — The Hebrew יוֹר֔וּ (yôru) means "they will instruct," paired with בֵּ֥ין (bên) "between" to frame the explicit command to teach distinction.
The thread — This mandate repeats the priestly duty in Leviticus 10:10 and Ezekiel 22:26, while 2 Timothy 2:24 later applies the teaching requirement to spiritual leaders.
Why it lands — The text explicitly commands priests to teach the people how to distinguish holy from common and clean from unclean, rather than leaving that discernment to the community.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
- Leviticus 10:10 You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,
- 2 Timothy 2:24 And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing.
- Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
- Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.
- Malachi 2:6 True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.
- Deuteronomy 33:10 He will teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your law to Israel; he will set incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.
- Haggai 2:11 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Ask the priests for a ruling.
- Titus 1:9 He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.
- Micah 3:9 Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right,