For you see that our sanctuary has been laid waste, our altar thrown down, our temple destroyed: This verse makes the point that the Temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed. The next verse will go into long detail about it. The conjunction For may be left implied (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). It is not clear from the Latin text what specifically is meant by sanctuary (literally “sanctification”) and temple. The Latin word for temple probably refers to the entire Temple complex, while the word for sanctuary refers to the Temple building. Which term refers to which is not really important here, and in fact two different terms need not be used (see the model below). The Temple courtyard contained the altar for making sacrifices (see the comments on 1 Esd 1.17-18). The altar was made of stone, and destroying it meant removing the stones from the structure and placing them disorderly on the ground. This is what Revised Standard Version means by thrown down, and Good News Bible is similar with “torn down.” An alternate model for this verse is:

• Just look, and you will see that our Temple, the whole Temple, has been destroyed [or, enemies have destroyed our whole Temple], and our altar has been torn down [or, they have torn down our altar].

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.