Now ask the earth: See the comments on 2 Esd 7.54 (see also 2 Esd 8.2).

And she will tell you that it is she who ought to mourn over so many who have come into being upon her: Contemporary English Version says “The earth itself will tell you that many of its people have died, and for that reason it deserves to mourn.”

Alternative models for this verse are:

• Think of the earth, and all the many people who have lived here. She [or, the earth] has a right to mourn.

• The earth has a right to mourn because of all the many people who have lived here. Ask her; she will tell you so.

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.