If integrated into the book of Daniel: 3.28

Thou hast executed true judgments in all … upon us and upon Jerusalem: At this point the reference to God’s judgments is made more specific. Azariah speaks of God’s judgment against the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. The punishment is that God allowed his people to be taken into exile in Babylonia. There is still no reference to anyone being in the fiery furnace. The first line of this verse extends the thought of the preceding line. In verse 4 Azariah says that all the decisions God makes are correct. Here he says the specific decisions he made about Judah and Jerusalem were well-founded. God’s judgment went against them because of their sin. Good News Translation clarifies what this judgment amounted to by saying “… you brought disaster upon Jerusalem.” This may not be necessary as long as the reader understands that God has judged Judah and Jerusalem and found them guilty.

The holy city of our fathers: Holy means that the city belonged to God. So in some languages we may say “your city Jerusalem, where our ancestors used to live.”

For in truth and justice thou hast brought all this upon us because of our sins may also be rendered “It was proper and fair to punish us for our sins,” or even “When you punished us for our sins, you did what was proper and fair.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• When you judged us and judged your city Jerusalem, where our ancestors lived, you were right to find us guilty. It was proper and fair to punish us for our sins.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.