Thus says the Lord Almighty: See the comments on verses 12 and 15.

Your house is desolate means the Temple is deserted (see Matt 23.38; Luke 13.35; compare Jer 22.5). Translators may specify that your house refers to the Temple in Jerusalem (so Good News Bible) by rendering this clause as “Your temple is deserted” (Contemporary English Version) or even “No one is in your Temple anymore.”

I will drive you out as the wind drives straw: I will drive you out refers to the Jews being driven from their land, which may be made specific (see the model below). The Latin word for straw refers to chopped stalks of grain after the grain has been harvested. The wind can blow it away easily. For the simile as the wind drives straw, compare Job 21.18.

Here is a possible model for this verse:

• “ ‘The Lord Almighty [also] says, “Your Temple is empty. I will drive you from your land and scatter you just as the wind blows straw.

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.