Because you have forsaken me, I also will forsake you: Good News Bible has a good model here, and so does Contemporary English Version with “You have abandoned me; now I will abandon you.” These two clauses may also be reversed by saying “I will abandon you, because you have abandoned me.”

When you beg mercy of me, I will show you no mercy: Contemporary English Version says “I won’t have pity on you, not even when you beg for it.” We may also say “I will not have mercy on you even when you beg me for it.” Good News Bible also has a good model here.

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.