Good News Bible divides verses 10 and 11 differently than Revised Standard Version. We prefer what Revised Standard Version has done in dividing these verses.

But I saw only how he sent forth from his mouth as it were a stream of fire, and from his lips a flaming breath, and from his tongue he shot forth a storm of sparks: For the interpretation of the dream in this verse see verses 37-38. The only purpose in mentioning lips and tongue as well as mouth is for literary effect, so that the same thing can be said three ways. In the model below we assume that lips and tongue are parts of the mouth, so we do not translate them separately. It is important, however, that fire, flaming breath, and storm each be translated, because in verses 37-38 each symbolizes something different. It is tempting to combine fire and flaming breath, since it is hard to make a distinction between a fire and a flame, but verse 38 makes it impossible. It is not necessary to maintain the pairing of mouth and fire, of lips and flaming breath, or of tongue and sparks. What will be necessary is to use separate terms for fire, flaming breath, and storm. The important thing is to convey the symbolism here, which is explained in verses 37-38.

The textual footnote in Revised Standard Version at the end of this verse says that the Latin is corrupt. It is better to say that the Latin is uncertain (so New Revised Standard Version footnote). The Latin for he shot forth a storm of sparks is literally “he sent forth sparks of a storm.” We are willing to accept the Latin expression for “sparks of a storm” as an unusual use of the genitive case meaning “sparks like a storm,” so there is no need to resort to any other ancient translation. But this phrase is related to a similar problem in the next verse (see the comments there).

An alternative model for this verse is:

• I only saw him open his mouth, and when he did, out came a stream of fire; he breathed flames and a storm of [hot] sparks.

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.