The first way, because they have scorned the law of the Most High: The first step of the grief of the wicked after death is that they know they have scorned God’s Law. The idea of “knowing” this is implied here. A model of this verse that makes this explicit is:

• First [or, In the first step], they realize that they had no use for the Law of God Most High.

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.