Alas for the world and for those who live in it!: For the word Alas, which is an expression of doom, see the comments on 2 Esd 13.16. Good News Bible provides a helpful model for this verse. Other possible ones are:

• “Disaster will come upon the earth and everyone living on it.

• “The earth and all the people living on it will meet disaster.

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.