The root of evil is sealed up from you: In the Latin text the root of evil is simply “root,” but it is assumed that this is the “evil root” of 2 Esd 3.22, referring to the human inclination to do evil. This clause may be rendered “You will be rid of any desire to do wrong.”

Illness is banished from you may be translated “No illness can touch you” or even “He [or, I] won’t allow you to become ill.”

And death is hidden may be expressed as “death has been taken away” (Good News Bible), “Nowhere can death be seen,” or even “You will not see death anywhere.” The word death is not in the Latin text, but we agree with Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible that this word should be included, based on the authority of some ancient translations.

Hell has fled and corruption has been forgotten: Revised Standard Version‘s footnote here involves a translational matter, so it is not needed. The Latin makes good sense, which is literally “hell and corruption have fled into oblivion,” that is, they have gone to some place where they do not even exist as far as the righteous are concerned. For hell see the comments on 2 Esd 4.7. Corruption refers to the decay of the body, and some translators will need to make this clear by rendering this clause as “Hell and the decay of your bodies will not be any more” or “You will forget about hell and bodily decay.”

We suggest the following model of this verse:

• You will be rid of any desire to do wrong. No illness can touch you. Nowhere can death be seen. You will forget all about hell and corruption [or, bodily decay].

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.