And one country shall ask its neighbor: In this context neighbor refers to a “neighboring country” (Good News Bible).

Has righteousness, or any one who does right, passed through you?: In this context the Latin word for righteousness probably refers to honesty, so Contemporary English Version begins this question as follows: “Has anyone honest…?” Who does right has almost the same meaning as righteousness since the Latin words for right and righteousness come from the same root. Passed through you may be rendered “passed [or, traveled] through your land.” Good News Bible uses indirect speech for this quote, which other languages may find helpful (see also the last two models below).

And it will answer, ‘No’: The conjunction And may be rendered “but” (Good News Bible), since the response is surprising. The pronoun it refers to the neighboring country.

Here are possible models for this verse:

• The people of one country will ask those in another [or, neighboring] country, ‘Has anyone good or honest passed through your land?’ But the answer will certainly be ‘No!’

• If a country asks its neighboring countries if they know of anyone who is honest and does right [or, is a good person], the answer will always be ‘No.’

• No country will be able to claim that it knows of anyone who is really honest and good, whether one of their own citizens or someone who has visited them.

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.