Translation comparison

2 Esdras 6:56 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

As for the other people, which also come of Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, but be like unto spittle: and hast likened the abundance of them unto a drop that falleth from a vessel.

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.

55All this have I spoken before thee, O Lord, because thou madest the world for our sakes

56As for the other people, which also come of Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, but be like unto spittle: and hast likened the abundance of them unto a drop that falleth from a vessel.

57And now, O Lord, behold, these heathen, which have ever been reputed as nothing, have begun to be lords over us, and to devour us.

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.