And the trumpet shall sound aloud: Compare 1 Cor 15.52; 1 Thes 4.16. For a description of the wind instrument trumpet, see the comments on 1 Esd 5.59. Here it signals war. “A trumpet” is better than the trumpet, which presupposes that the readers know of a trumpet to sound at the end times. Latin has no articles, and no definite article is implied here. In languages that do not have the passive voice, this clause may be rendered “Then someone will blow a trumpet.”

And when all hear it, they shall suddenly be terrified: The pronoun they refers to everyone who hears the trumpet.

Here are models for this verse:

• Then a trumpet will sound. Everyone will hear it, and be suddenly terrified.

• Then someone will blow a trumpet, and everyone will hear it, and they will suddenly become terribly afraid [or, their hearts will suddenly be full of terror].

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.