Translation comparison

2 Esdras 6:3 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 6

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

Before the fair flowers were seen, or ever the moveable powers were established, before the innumerable multitude of angels were gathered together,

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.

2Before it thundered and lightened, or ever the foundations of paradise were laid,

3Before the fair flowers were seen, or ever the moveable powers were established, before the innumerable multitude of angels were gathered together,

4Or ever the heights of the air were lifted up, before the measures of the firmament were named, or ever the chimneys in Sion were hot,

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.