For what does it profit us that we shall be preserved alive but cruelly tormented?: With this rhetorical question Ezra says that being human is not a good deal, if it means that we live forever, but suffer torment in hell for all eternity. Some languages may prefer to render it as a strong statement (see the second model below). The conjunction For may be omitted (so Good News Bible). Here are alternative models for this verse:

• What good is it for us if we survive death [or, live after death], but then have to suffer torture in hell?

• If we humans are going to survive death, but suffer the tortures of hell, we are worse off than the animals.

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.