Say to her may be rendered “Ask her” (Good News Bible), since this quote frame introduces a question.

Why are those whom you have borne recently not like those whom you bore before, but are smaller in stature?: Smaller in stature means “not as tall as.” The writer apparently believes that babies born during a mother’s younger years grow taller than those born when she is older. (There is no medical evidence for this.) Good News Bible uses indirect discourse for this embedded quote, which other languages may find helpful. However, some languages will prefer to keep the two levels of speech in this verse. A model that does this is:

• Ask her, ‘Why are your children that you have recently given birth to shorter than the older ones?’

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.