A man weeps to his god like a friend, He constantly prays. His heart is aflame, his toil is grim, His kidneys are grieving from suffering.⁠a He has become weak and then bent: he is prostrated. His toil has become too heavy for him, he has drawn near to weep. He brays like the weaned foal of a donkey. He has got loud in the god’s presence, his chief. A bull is his speech, his voice two lamenters. His lips bear a lament to his lord. He recounts to his lord the toil he has gone through. The man explains the suffering he is enduring: “My lord, I have examined my kidneys ... In my heart. I do not know what sin I have committed. Have I committed an abomination against you? Have I eaten a very evil forbidden fruit? Does brother look down on brother? Does friend slander friend? There is present for me the lord of justice who decrees. May his choice intelligence guard him. You begot me and I got distressed. My spirit came to an end. From my childhood to my maturity the days have lengthened. I have not forgotten all the kindness you have done to me, And all the blasphemy I have spoken against you. In grace you have shown me evil. My lord, you have made me glow with burning disease. My misfortune has increased, it attaches itself to my feet. It has inflicted blows on my skull. You have made a mouth filled with food very bitter to me. Its taste has become like stinkwort. You have muddied the water. My release has not come since my childhood. You have set my feet on the earth. You have made me bear. You have made my care for me. You have filled and heaped up for me. You raised him to the earth. You anointed him with a physician’s oil. You gave food and clothed him with garments. As he tended him he cheered his spirit, And spoke to him of the relief his good health would bring. “Gird your loins, do not be dispirited. The years are finished, the days I filled with toil. If you had not been ordained to life, How possibly could you have suffered the severe malady to its end? You experienced distress, but my affliction is withdrawn. You have borne its heavy load to its completion. People have rejected you, but now the way is open for you. Your path is straight and compassion is bestowed on you. You who in future days will not forget your god, Your creator, and that you are well favored. I am your god, your creator, your help. My guards are watching over you with power for your protection. I will open for you a place of refuge. Eternal life I will provide for you. As for you, unblanchingly anoint the parched, Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty to drink. But he who has cast sorceries—may he stare at your food as he melts, flows down, and dissolves. For you the gate of prosperity and life is open. Go in and out of it and prosper.” Make straight his way, open his path. May the prayer of your servant sink into your mind.