So their entreaty ascended fervently to heaven: This short verse simply ends the paragraph about the Jews praying. The next paragraph describes the Lord’s action in saving them. Contemporary English Version translates this sentence simply “God heard their prayers,” which is effective, but omits the idea of fervently. A better model is “They prayed as fervently as they could [or, with all their might], and God heard their prayers.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 3-4 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2018. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.