That you may bring confusion upon them: God wants Ezra to confuse the Israelites so that they do not know where to turn. We may say “Confuse these people” or “Don’t let anyone guide these people.”

And bring their mother to ruin: Their mother is still Jerusalem. This clause may be rendered “Turn Jerusalem, their mother, into ruins” or “Destroy Jerusalem, their mother.”

So that they may have no offspring may be translated “so that they will have no descendants” (Good News Bible).

Here are models for this verse:

• Confuse these people. Turn Jerusalem, their mother, into ruins. I want them to have no descendants.

• … Completely destroy Jerusalem, their mother….

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.