And he said to me, “You cannot”: The translation should make clear what it is that Ezra cannot do; for example, You cannot may be rendered “You cannot understand these things.”

And I said may be translated “And I asked” (Good News Bible), since this quote frame introduces questions.

Why not, my lord may be expressed as “Why can’t I understand, sir?”

Why then was I born? Or why did not my mother’s womb become my grave…?: Compare Job 3.11; 10.18-19; Jer 20.17; 1 Macc 2.7. These two questions are rhetorical. Contemporary English Version combines them in a strong statement, saying “I should have died before I was born.” Why did not my mother’s womb become my grave may be rendered “Why didn’t I die in my mother’s womb?”

That I might not see the travail of Jacob and the exhaustion of the people of Israel: The names Jacob and Israel are parallel, both referring to “the people of Israel” (Good News Bible). Travail may be translated “ordeal” or “suffering.” Good News Bible misses the idea in exhaustion, that the Israelites have suffered so they are worn out, they have no energy left. The following models of the verse keep this idea:

• He replied, “You cannot understand these things.”
I asked, “But sir, why not? Why was I ever born? If I had died in my mother’s womb [or, If I had died before I was born], I would never have had to see the people of Israel like this, completely exhausted from their ordeal.”

• … I would never have had to see [or, have seen] the people of Israel completely exhausted from all their suffering.”

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.