Translation comparison

2 Esdras 4:19 in 1 translation

Every translation here words this verse identically, which is itself worth knowing — there is no interpretive fork to weigh.

Read with nearby context Open chapter 4

Early modern English

Seventeenth-century wording and sentence shape. Familiar, rhythmic, and the version most quotations you have heard are taken from.

King James Version

KJV

I answered and said, Verily it is a foolish thought that they both have devised, for the ground is given unto the wood, and the sea also hath his place to bear his floods.

1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.

The verses either side

King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.

18If thou wert judge now betwixt these two, whom wouldest thou begin to justify? or whom wouldest thou condemn?

19I answered and said, Verily it is a foolish thought that they both have devised, for the ground is given unto the wood, and the sea also hath his place to bear his floods.

20Then answered he me, and said, Thou hast given a right judgment, but why judgest thou not thyself also?

Not shown for this verse: American Standard Version, Darby Bible, Young's Literal Translation, World English Bible, Open English Bible (US), Open English Bible (Commonwealth), Bible in Basic English. Most modern translations do not include the Apocrypha.