And when the forty days were ended, the Most High spoke to me, saying: Good News Bible says “At the end of the forty days God Most High said to me.”

Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first and let the worthy and the unworthy read them: As the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible indicate here, the Latin text does not contain the number twenty-four. However, it is not necessary to resort to a textual explanation. From verses 44 and 46 it is clear that the books that you wrote first were twenty-four in number (94 less 70 equals 24). We think it is helpful to use the number twenty-four in this verse, but see it as a translational matter needing no textual footnote. The twenty-four books are the books of the Hebrew Bible, as traditionally counted. 1-2 Samuel are counted as one book, 1-2 Kings are counted as one book, 1-2 Chronicles are counted as one book, Ezra and Nehemiah are counted as one book, and the twelve Minor Prophets are counted as one book.

In verses 45 and 46 the second person references in the Latin text are all singular. God speaks to Ezra alone, even though Ezra himself did not literally write any of the books, but only dictated them to the scribes.

We suggest the following alternative model for this verse:

• When the forty days were over, God Most High said to me, “Take the twenty-four books that you wrote down first, and make them public. Let anyone read them, whether they are worthy or not.

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.