I said, “Speak on, my lord”: Here the translator must simply have Ezra reply to the angel in a natural way, agreeing to the angel’s proposal. Good News Bible has “ ‘I agree, sir,’ I said.” We may also say simply “I agreed.” For my lord, see 2Esdras 4.3.

And he said to me: Contemporary English Version has simply “Uriel said.”

Go, weigh for me the weight of fire, or measure for me a measure of wind, or call back for me the day that is past: The generic verb Go introduces three commands that the angel gives to Ezra. Good News Bible renders it “Good,” and Contemporary English Version says “All right.” These three commands are the “three ways” and “three problems” mentioned in verse 3. For the first two commands (weigh for me the weight of fire and measure for me a measure of wind), Good News Bible uses actual measures, “pound” and “bushel,” neither of which are used in the Latin text, but which work well in English here. However, for the second command the angel is more likely asking Ezra to measure the length of the wind (kilometers or miles) rather than how much room it takes up (bushels). It is possible to change these commands to questions as follows: “How do you weigh fire? How do you measure a puff of wind? How do you bring back yesterday” (similarly Contemporary English Version) or “Can you tell me how much a fire weighs? Can you tell me how long a wind is? Can you make yesterday return?” The Revised Standard Version footnote indicates there is a textual problem with the second command. Instead of a measure of wind, which is the reading in many ancient versions, the Latin text has “a blast of wind.” The difference in meaning between these two readings is not significant, so translators may follow either one, without adding a footnote.

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.