And because of our sins and the sins of our fathers may be rendered “Because we and our ancestors sinned.”

We with our brethren and our kings and our priests were given over to the kings of the earth may be translated “all of us Jews, including our kings and our priests, have been defeated by kings of other nations” or “you have allowed kings of other nations to defeat all of us Jews, including our kings and our priests.”

To the sword and captivity and plundering: Ezra recalls the times that God had punished his people by allowing foreign kings to kill them, take them captive, and loot them. He uses three nouns in a litany of the suffering that his people have experienced. The sword is used figuratively to express the fact that people were killed. Captivity refers to the exile to Babylonia. Plundering means that their places were robbed and looted by force and the people’s possessions were carried away as booty by their enemies.

In shame until this day: The past Jewish history was one of shame, shame of their own making, all the way to the time of Ezra. Good News Bible provides a helpful model here, saying “We have been totally disgraced, as we still are today.”

Alternative models for this verse are:

• Because of our sins and those of our ancestors, all Jews have suffered, even our kings and our priests. You have allowed kings of other nations to kill us, to take us captive, to rob us. Even today we live in disgrace.

• Because of our sins and those of our ancestors, all Jews, including our kings and priests have suffered….

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.