Therefore hear my voice, and understand my words, and I will speak before thee: Here Ezra asks God to listen to his prayer that follows (verses 20-36). An alternative model for this sentence is:

• So I ask you to listen to me as I now pray, and understand what I am saying.”

The beginning of the words of Ezra’s prayer: According to the writer, Ezra’s actual prayer begins in verse 20 (see the introductory comments on verses 4-19a).

Before he was taken up: This clause refers to Ezra being taken into heaven without passing through death (compare 2 Esd 6.26). The Old Testament does not speak of Ezra being taken into heaven, but it is assumed by our writer (see 2 Esd 14.9, and the comments on 14.48). This verse is a strange interruption into the narrative; it probably comes from ancient Christian liturgies that used Ezra’s prayer in this subsection as part of worship. There is a document known as The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, probably of Christian origin, but of very uncertain date, that tells of Ezra being taken up into heaven.

He said is better rendered “He prayed” (Good News Bible).

Good News Bible provides a good model for this verse. Since Ezra speaks in the first person in this book, some translators may wish to follow Contemporary English Version, which says:

• Just before I was taken up into heaven I prayed:….

Another possible model is:

• Just before God took me up into heaven I prayed….

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.