How have we offended you, and what harm have we done you, that you have forsaken us and sit in this place?: The people wonder why Ezra is still sitting out in the lonely field, and wonder if he is angry with them. How have we offended you may be rendered “Are you angry with us?” (similarly Contemporary English Version). What harm have we done you may be translated “Have we hurt you in any way?” Forsaken us may be expressed as “abandoned us” (Good News Bible) or “not returned to us.” Good News Bible breaks this long question into several questions, which other languages may find helpful (see also the second model below). Alternative models for this verse are:

• “Are you angry with us or have we hurt you in some way that you have abandoned us and you sit out here in this place?

• “Why are you sitting out here in this place? Why have you not come back [to us]? Have we offended you? Have we hurt you in some way?

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.