For my spirit was greatly aroused, and my soul was in distress: These two clauses are essentially restatements, for emphasis, of “my heart was troubled within me” in verse 36. The conjunction For may be omitted (so Good News Bible). Revised English Bible renders my spirit was greatly aroused as “With spirit truly aflame,” which is closer to the literal meaning of the Latin verb here, but that word, with its adverb, can easily be taken to mean greatly aroused, “intensely excited” (Myers), or “very tense” (Good News Bible). Good News Bible and New English Bible join this verse to the next one, but we prefer joining it with the preceding verse, as illustrated in the following model that combines verses 36-37:

• By [or, On] the eighth night, I was again deeply troubled, and my mind was greatly disturbed. So I began to talk with God Most High.

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.