In the midst of the time of that kingdom great struggles shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; nevertheless it shall not fall then, but shall regain its former power: This verse seems to be referring to a chaotic political situation in Rome after the death of Nero in 68 A.D. Three emperors came and went before Vespasian came to power in 69 A.D. (Good News Bible‘s translation is not consistent with this sense and we do not recommend it.) There are two textual problems in this verse, as indicated in Revised Standard Version‘s footnotes. We take the position that the readings of the Latin and of the other versions are only two ways of looking at the same thing. Instead of In the midst of the time, the Latin text has “after a time,” which means “after some time.” Latin has no articles, and no definite article is implied here. If “after the time” is meant here, there would be a problem in the Latin text, but if “after a time” is meant, there is none. After a time great struggles arose, but the empire had a new beginning with Vespasian. Instead of shall regain its former power, the Latin text has “will again be constituted as it was in the beginning,” which makes good sense. Our following model of this verse follows the Latin with no textual footnotes:

• That means that after some time there will be great struggles for power in that kingdom, and it will almost fall. But it will not. It will become as strong as it was at the beginning.

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.