Therefore I told you to remain in the field where no house had been built, for I knew that the Most High would reveal these things to you: The connector Therefore may be rendered “So” or even “That is why” (Good News Bible). For the field where no house had been built, see 2 Esd 9.24. Good News Bible says “the field where no one had ever lived,” and Contemporary English Version has simply “this deserted field.” Both these models are not satisfactory, because the emphasis here is on the fact that no building had ever existed there.

Here is a possible model for these two verses:

• 51 That is why I told you stay in a field where no house had ever been built [or, where no one had ever built a house], 52 because I knew that God Most High was going to show you these things.

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.