But speak to them and say, Thus says the Lord: At the beginning of this subsection, it may be helpful to indicate that the Lord is speaking directly to Ezra here by beginning with his name (so Good News Bible). Good News Bible omits the Latin adverb rendered But, which is acceptable. Myers renders it “by all means,” which expresses it well here. Thus says the Lord is a traditional formula for a prophet who is sent by God to deliver a message to his people. It tells where the message comes from and established the authority of the prophet. It shows that the prophet is speaking on behalf of God. There are two quote frames here. The first one But speak to them and say introduces the second one Thus says the Lord. These two quote frames introduce a third level of quotation in the following verses, with the Lord speaking directly to the Israelites. The Lord tells Ezra what to say on his behalf to them. Translators will have to decide how to handle these three levels of quotation. Traditionally, the way to identify the different levels of discourse is to introduce each with quotation marks, alternating between double and single quote marks. But this becomes cumbersome when there are so many levels, so we recommend that translators find ways to reduce the number of different levels of quotation marks required. Contemporary English Version removes one level by changing Thus says the Lord into an indirect quote (so also Good News Bible), saying “Ezra, tell these people that I, the Lord, am saying:….” The following model of this verse keeps the three levels of quotation:

• “Ezra, go to your people and speak to them. Say, ‘Here is what the Lord says:….

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.