For the evil about which you ask me has been sown, but the harvest of it has not yet come: The textual problem noted here by Revised Standard Version deals with a grammatical technicality and does not affect the meaning, so translators do not need to include a footnote. The conjunction For may be omitted (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). The evil about which you ask me refers to the injustices that Ezra has been concerned with, especially in 2 Esd 3.28-36. Uriel explains that even though the present time is evil, its seed has only been planted; the full harvest of evil is yet to come. That is, things will get worse before they get better. For the figurative language here, compare Jer 51.33; Matt 13.24-30; Rev 14.15. Good News Bible provides a helpful model for this verse. Another possible model is:

• You have asked me about evil. It is growing like plants in a [farmer’s] field, but it is not yet time for harvest [or, but it still has time to grow before the harvest].

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.