And said may be rendered “They said to each other.”

Come, let us go and make war against the sea may be rendered simply “Let’s attack the sea” (Contemporary English Version). The verbs Come and go are used to indicate the beginning of an action. For this reason Contemporary English Version leaves these verbs untranslated.

That it may recede before us may be translated “and push it back” (Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version).

And that we may make for ourselves more forests: Contemporary English Version says “so we can have more room for trees.”

Good News Bible provides a helpful model for this verse. Another possible one is:

• They said to each other, ‘Let’s go to war against the sea, and push it back so that there will be more room for us trees.’

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.