Then I heard a voice saying to me: The speaker here is not identified.

Look before you and consider what you see: The phrase before you may be rendered “straight ahead” (Good News Bible) or “in front of you” (Contemporary English Version).

Contemporary English Version provides the following helpful model for this verse:

• Just then, a voice said, “Ezra, look carefully at what you see in front of you.”

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.