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“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom,
    living at ease and feeling secure.
You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.
    I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment:
    widowhood and the loss of your children.
Yes, these calamities will come upon you,
    despite all your witchcraft and magic.

10 “You felt secure in your wickedness.
    ‘No one sees me,’ you said.
But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray,
    and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’
11 So disaster will overtake you,
    and you won’t be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you,
    and you won’t be able to buy your way out.
A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,
    one for which you are not prepared.

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“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security(A)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.(B)
I will never be a widow(C)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,(D) on a single day:
    loss of children(E) and widowhood.(F)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries(G)
    and all your potent spells.(H)
10 You have trusted(I) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(J)
Your wisdom(K) and knowledge mislead(L) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(M) 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(N) come upon you.

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