When you call upon me, I will not listen to you: Compare Isa 1.15. This sentence may be rendered “When you pray to me, I will not respond.”

For you have defiled your hands with blood is the reason why God will not listen to the prayers of the Israelites. This idiomatic expression means they are guilty of murder (compare Isa 1.15). The body part of hands is used to represent their actions, and blood refers to murder. Contemporary English Version renders this clause as “Your hands are stained with blood.” A nonfigurative model is “You are guilty of murder.”

And your feet are swift to commit murder: This figurative expression repeats and emphasizes the one just before it (compare Pro 1.16; Isa 59.7). It means that the people have not hesitated to commit murder. The body part of feet is parallel to hands, referring to their actions. Good News Bible uses nonfigurative language here, saying “You never hesitate to commit murder.”

An alternative model for this verse is:

• When you pray to me, I am not going to listen, because you are guilty of murder; you have never hesitated to kill people.

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.