And all that has happened to us has come about because of our evil deeds and our great sins: Ezra is now speaking for himself and not referring to what the prophets said. The conjunction And may be omitted (so Good News Bible). All that has happened to us refers to all the occasions in history in which God punished the Jews for their sins (compare verse 77). The phrases our evil deeds and our great sins mean the same thing, but the repetition is emphatic, and should be kept in the translation if possible. This clause may be rendered “All of our troubles happened because we have been very evil” or even “God has continually punished us because of our terrible sins.” We may connect this clause with the following one as follows: “Even though all these troubles have happened to us because of our terrible sins, we know, O Lord…” (similarly Good News Bible).

For thou, O Lord, didst lift the burden of our sins: The conjunction For may be translated “but” (Contemporary English Version) since it introduces a contrast. The Greek pronoun for thou is emphatic since it is an independent pronoun. Good News Bible takes this clause to mean the Lord punished his people less than they deserved, but we prefer the following interpretation: the Lord ended the punishment he was giving his people. This clause may be rendered “But you, O Lord, ended the punishment for our sins” or “But you, O Lord, stopped punishing us for our sins.”

And give us such a root as this: The Lord allowed some of the Jewish people to survive through all the catastrophes that had happened to their nation. For the image of a root, see the comments on verse 78. This clause may be translated “and let those of us who are here survive.”

But we turned back again to transgress thy law by mixing with the uncleanness of the peoples of the land: As soon as God stopped the punishment and set his people free, they immediately began sinning again, this time by following the disgusting practices of the Gentiles. Mixing may refer here to intermarriage (so Good News Bible), but we think it not this definite. Mixing with the uncleanness of the peoples of the land more likely refers to joining in the disgusting practices of their Gentile neighbors. For the Greek word rendered uncleanness, see the comments on verse 69, where it is translated “pollutions.”

Alternative models for verses 86-87 are:

• 86 ‘Every bad thing that has ever happened to us happened because our sins were so great, so evil. But Lord, you ended your punishment of our sins, 87 and let those of us who are here survive. But we have started sinning again, violating [or, disobeying] your Law by joining in the disgusting practices of the people who live around us.

• 86 ‘Even though all these troubles happened to us because of our terrible sins, yet you, O Lord, stopped punishing us for our sins. 87 You let those of us who are here survive. But we have started sinning again. We have disobeyed your Law by joining in the….

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.