And the cases of the men who had foreign wives were brought to an end by the new moon of the first month: For the first month, see the comments on 1 Esd 1.1. Good News Bible translates by the end of the new moon of the first month as “within the next three months” from the information that the investigations began on the first day of the tenth month and ended on the first day of the first month, that is, three months. It is a good model, but we offer this alternative model of the verse based on Contemporary English Version:

• They did not finish this investigation until three months later, on the first day of the first month of the following year.

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.