And since the building of the temple is now going on, we think it best not to neglect such a matter: The letter writers may be expressing here some anxiety that the Jews will be in a better position to resist royal authority if they complete the Temple for their God, since then they will have a God to fight for them. The intent of the message is to get the king to take action quickly. We suggest joining this verse to the next one, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible. So does Contemporary English Version, which renders this verse as follows:

• Since they are working on the temple right now, we thought that it was too important a matter to ignore, ….

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.