⁹ Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,^(A) on a single day:
    loss of children^(B) and widowhood.^(C)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries^(D)
    and all your potent spells.^(E)
10 You have trusted^(F) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^(G)
Your wisdom^(H) and knowledge mislead^(I) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
¹¹ Disaster^(J) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly^(K) come upon you.

¹² “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,^(L)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
¹³ All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(M)
    Let your astrologers^(N) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(O) you from what is coming upon you.
¹⁴ Surely they are like stubble;^(P)
    the fire^(Q) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.^(R)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.