1-9 God's commands are by far the loftiest, His words (1 ms. has instead: commands) are holy, His utterances are immutable! The fate He decides is everlasting, His glance makes the mountains anxious, His ...... reaches into the interior of the mountains. All the creatures of the earth bow down to the Lord, who sits comfortably on the holy dais, the lofty dais (some mss. have instead: the deep), the One whose lordship and princeship are most perfect. The angels enter before Him (1 ms. has instead: stand before Him) and obey His instructions faithfully.

10-17 The mighty Lord, the greatest in heaven and earth, the knowledgeable judge, the wise One of wide-ranging wisdom, has taken His seat, and made the great place resplendent with majesty. He has taken up residence in Nibru, the lofty bond between heaven and earth. The front of the city is laden with terrible fearsomeness and radiance, its back is such that even the mightiest does not dare to attack, and its interior is the blade of a sharp dagger, a blade of catastrophe. For the rebel lands it is a snare, a trap, a net.

18-25 It cuts short the life of those who speak too mightily. It permits no evil word to be spoken in judgement. ......, deception, inimical speech, hostility, impropriety, ill-treatment, wickedness, wrongdoing, looking askance, violence, slandering, arrogance, licentious speech, egotism and boasting are abominations not tolerated within the city.

26-34 The borders of Nibru form a great net, within which the eagle spreads wide its talons. The evil or wicked man does not escape its grasp. In this city endowed with steadfastness, for which righteousness and justice have been made a lasting possession, and which is clothed in pure clothing on the quay, the younger brother honours the older brother and treats him with human dignity; people pay attention to a father's word, and submit themselves to his protection; the child behaves humbly and modestly towards his mother and attains a ripe old age.

35-43 In the city, the holy settlement of God, in Nibru, the beloved shrine of the Exalted, He has made the dais of abundance, the shining temple, rise from the soil; He has made it grow on pure land as high as a towering mountain. Its Prince, the Exalted, has taken His seat on the dais of the lofty shrine. Nothing can cause harm to the temple's ordinances. Its holy hand-washing rites are everlasting like the earth. Its ordinances are the ordinances of the deep: no one can look upon them.

44-55 Its interior is a wide sea which knows no horizon. In its ...... glistening as a banner, the bonds and ancient ordinances are made perfect. Its words are prayers, its incantations are supplications. Its word is a favourable omen ......, its rites are most precious. At the festivals, there is plenty of fat and cream; they are full of abundance. Its divine plans bring joy and rejoicing, its verdicts are great. Daily there is a great festival, and at the end of the day there is an abundant harvest. The house of God is a mountain of abundance; to reach out, to look with greedy eyes, to seize are abominations in it.

56-64 The priests of this temple whose lord has grown together with it are expert in blessing; its priests are suited for lustration rites; its priests are perfect in the holy prayers. Its great farmer is the good shepherd of the Land, who was born vigorous on a propitious day. The farmer, suited for the broad fields, comes with rich offerings; he does not ...... into the shining temple.

65-73 O God, when You marked out the holy settlements, You also built Nibru, Your own city. You ...... the mountain, Your pure place. You founded it in the middle of the four quarters of the earth. Its soil is the life of the Land, and the life of all the foreign countries. Its brickwork is red gold, its foundation is lapis lazuli. You made it glisten on high (1 ms. has instead: raised its glistening top) in Sumer as if it were the horns of a wild bull. It makes all the foreign countries tremble with fear. At its great festivals, the people pass their time in abundance.

74-83 O God, holy Urac is favoured with beauty for You; You are greatly suited for the deep, the holy throne; You refresh Yourself in the deep underworld, the holy chamber. Your presence spreads awesomeness over the shining temple, the lofty dwelling. Its fearsomeness and radiance reach up to heaven, its shadow stretches over all the foreign lands, and its crenellation reaches up to the midst of heaven. All lords and sovereigns regularly supply holy offerings there, approaching God with prayers and supplications.

84-92 O God, if You look upon the shepherd favourably, if You elevate the one truly called in the Land, then the foreign countries are in his hands, the foreign countries are at his feet! Even the most distant foreign countries submit to him. He will then cause enormous incomes and heavy tributes, as if they were cool water, to reach the treasury. In the great courtyard he will supply offerings regularly. Into the shining temple, he will bring .......

93-99 God, faithful shepherd of the teeming multitudes, herdsman, leader of all living creatures, has manifested His rank of great prince, adorning Himself with (1 ms. has instead: putting on) the holy crown. As the wind occupied the dais, He spanned the sky as the rainbow. Like a floating cloud, He moved alone.

100-108 He alone is the Prince of heaven, the Lord of the earth. The lofty God Himself determines the fates. No eye can see Him. His great minister and commander (1 ms. has instead: chief barber), the angel, learns His commands and His intentions from Him, consults with Him and then executes His far-reaching instructions on His behalf. He prays to Him with holy prayers.

109-123 Without the Exalted God, no city would be built, no settlement would be founded; no cow-pen would be built, no sheepfold would be established; no king would be elevated, no lord would be given birth; no high priest or priestess would perform their duty; soldiers would have no generals or captains; no carp-filled waters would ...... the rivers at their peak; the carp would not ...... come straight up from the sea, they would not dart about. The sea would not produce all its heavy treasure, no freshwater fish would lay eggs in the reedbeds, no bird of the sky would build nests in the spacious land; in the sky the thick clouds would not open their mouths; on the fields, dappled grain would not fill the arable lands, vegetation would not grow lushly on the plain; in the gardens, the spreading trees (1 ms. has instead: forests) of the mountain would not yield fruits.

124-130 Without the Exalted God, no death would be decreed, no one would be struck dead; no cow would drop its calf in the cattle-pen, no ewe would bring forth a lamb in its sheepfold; the living creatures which multiply by themselves would not lie down in their ...... (1 ms. has instead: sit within ......); the four-legged animals would not propagate, they would not mate.

131-138 O God, Your ingenuity takes one's breath away! By its nature it is like entangled threads which cannot be unraveled, crossed threads which the eye cannot follow. Your divinity can be relied on. You are Your own counsellor and adviser, You are a Lord on Your own. Who can comprehend Your actions? No power is as resplendent as Yours. No one can look You in the face.

139-155 You, O God, are Lord, God, King. You are a judge who makes decisions about heaven and earth. Your lofty word is as heavy as heaven, and there is no one who can lift it. The angels ...... at Your word. Your word is weighty in heaven, a foundation on the earth. In the heavens, it is a great ......, reaching up to the sky. On the earth it is a foundation which cannot be destroyed. When it relates to the heavens, it brings abundance: abundance will pour from the heavens. When it relates to the earth, it brings prosperity: the earth will produce prosperity. Your word means flax, Your word means grain. Your word means the early flooding, the life of the lands. It makes the living creatures, the animals which copulate and breathe joyfully in the greenery. You, O God, the good shepherd, know their ways. ...... the sparkling stars.

167-171 Prominent One whose words are well established, whose command and support are things which are immutable, whose utterances take precedence, whose plans are firm words, Exalted God, Your praise is sublime!