Trick out the beauty of your face!: This rendering in Revised Standard Version is unclear to most speakers of English. New Revised Standard Version has “Beautify your face!” This is correct, and translators should use whatever expression their language has available to refer to a woman at work making her face more attractive. Good News Bible says “Paint your face!” New English Bible is similar with “Paint your face; make yourself beautiful!” Good News Bible and New English Bible add a nasty tone that is not out of place here, but New Revised Standard Version has a better model for this verse.

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.