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I. Lo, what the ancestors foretold has come to pass. The land is full of bands of evil-doers and the plowman goes to plow with his shield. Faces are pale; the bowmen stand ready; wrondoing is everywhere and there is no man or woman of yesterday. Lo, the women are barren and none conceive, for Ra does not make children anymore because of the state of the land. There is blood everywhere and no shortage of the dead. Indeed the burial cloth cries out before one approaches it. Lo, the land turns like a potter's wheel. The robber has become rich and the honorable person a thief. The foreigners from without have come to Egypt and the Egyptian of yesterday cannot be found anywhere (This is so true now). Lo, the great and small say "I wish I were dead" and little children say "He should not have caused me to live." Lo, the unrestrained says: "If I knew where Ra is, I would serve Him."
II. Behold now, how greatly the people have changed. One who once did not sleep even on a box now owns a bed. Those who once owned robes now are in rags and those who once did not weave for themselves now own fine linen. Behold, those who once did not build boats, now own ships and the former owners just look at them, for they are no longer theirs. Those who once lacked shelter now have homes and those who had homes are in the blast of the storm. And those who knew nothing of Ra now make offerings to Him with incense of others. Lo, why does Ra seek to create men and women, when the gentle are not distinguished from the violent? But He brings coolness in the midst of heat. And all say: "He is the shepherd of all humankind and there is no evil in His heart. Though His flocks are few, He spends the whole day tending them. But there is fire in their hearts. Oh, that He had perceived their nature in the first generation. Then He would have destroyed the wicked, stretched out His arm against them. Surely, He would have destroyed their seed and their legacy.
[This message has been edited by zulu (edited 06 July 2005).]
[This message has been edited by zulu (edited 06 July 2005).]
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