For behold, the time will come …: The conjunction For may be omitted at the beginning of this new subsection (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). The word behold highlights the message that follows. This word is omitted in Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version, since there is really no good English equivalent. New Revised Standard Version renders it “indeed,” which fits well here. In some languages it may be appropriate to say “Look!” New English Bible translates it “Listen!” This is not bad, but it must not be understood to mean that Uriel is telling Ezra to listen for some sound.

When the signs which I have foretold to you will come to pass: Uriel mentioned these signs in 2 Esd 6.20-24. Another way to render this clause is “The signs that I have predicted to you will happen” or “All the signs that I have told you about will happen.”

The city which now is not seen shall appear: The textual problem noted here in the footnotes of Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible is difficult. However, the reading in the text of these versions is probably correct since it makes a good parallel with the next clause. The city is the heavenly Jerusalem (see 2 Esd 13.36; compare Rev 21.2). (Rev 21.2 is probably the source of the surely mistaken Latin text mentioning “the bride.”) Good News Bible renders the city which now is not seen as “The invisible city,” which is not a good choice of words. It implies that the heavenly city is in front of us right now, it’s just that we cannot see it. However, the idea here is that the heavenly city is hidden and will appear at the end time. It is better to say “the hidden city” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

And the land which now is hidden shall be disclosed: As mentioned above, this clause is parallel with the previous one. The land is apparently paradise.

Here is an alternative model for this verse:

• “Listen to me! The time is coming when the signs that I have predicted to you will happen. There is a city now hidden that will appear, and a land now hidden that will be seen [or, that you will see].

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.