Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it: Once again, despite the punishment, God promises to give the Levites important roles in the new Temple. This verse is in some ways a summary of verse 11 (see the comments there). I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple probably refers to the Levites’ role as gatekeepers. To do all its service and all that is to be done in it refers to doing all “the menial work that is to be done in the Temple” (Good News Translation). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “to perform all its chores, everything that needs to be done in it,” Contemporary English Version has “all the hard work that must be done in the temple” (similarly Revised English Bible), and New Living Translation translates “taking charge of the maintenance work and performing general duties” (similarly Complete Jewish Bible).

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .