Marduk Becomes King

They prepared for him a lordly chamber, Before his fathers as prince he took his place.

“Thou art chiefest among the great gods, Thy fate is unequaled, thy word is Anu!

O Marduk, thou art chiefest among the great gods, your fate is unequaled, thy word is Anu!

Henceforth not without avail shall be thy command, In thy power shall it be to exalt and to abase.

Established shall be the word of thy mouth, irresistible shall be thy command, None among the gods shall transgress thy boundary.

Abundance, the desire of the shrines of the gods, shall be established in thy sanctuary, even though they lack offerings.

O Marduk, thou art our avenger!

We give you sovereignty over the whole world.

Sit thou down in might; be exalted in thy command.

Thy weapon shall never lose its power; it shall crush thy foe.

O Lord, spare the life of him that putteth his trust in thee, But as for the god who began the rebellion, pour out his life.”

Then set they in their midst a garment, And unto Marduk,- their first-born they spake: “May thy fate, O lord, be supreme among the gods, To destroy and to create; speak thou the word, and thy command shall be fulfilled.

Command now and let the garment vanish;

And speak the word again and let the garment reappear!

Then he spake with his mouth, and the garment vanished;

Again he commanded it, and. the garment reappeared.

When the gods, his fathers, beheld the fulfillment of his word,

They rejoiced, and they did homage unto him, saying, " Marduk is king!”

They bestowed upon him the scepter, and the throne, and the ring.

They give him an invincible weapony which overwhelmeth the foe.

Go, and cut off the life of Tiamat, and let the wind carry her blood into secret places."

After the gods his fathers had decreed for the lord his fate,

They caused him to set out on a path of prosperity and success.

He made ready the bow, he chose his weapon, He slung a spear upon him and fastened it…

He raised the club, in his right hand he grasped it,

The bow and the quiver he hung at his side.

He set the lightning in front of him, with burning flame he filled his body.

He made a net to enclose the inward parts of Tiamat, The four winds he stationed so that nothing of her might escape;

The South wind and the North wind and the East wind and the West wind He brought near to the net, the gift of his father Anu.

He created the evil wind, and the tempest, and the hurricane, And the fourfold wind, and the sevenfold wind, and the whirlwind, and the wind which had no equal;

He sent forth the winds which he had created, the seven of them;

To disturb the inward parts of Tiamat, they followed after him.

Then the lord raised the thunderbolt, his mighty weapon, He mounted the chariot, the storm unequaled for terror, He harnessed and yoked unto it four horses, Destructive, ferocious, overwhelming, and swift of pace;

… were their teeth, they were flecked with foam; They were skilled in… , they had been trained to trample underfoot. … . mighty in battle,

Left and right….

His garment was… , he was clothed with terror, With overpowering brightness his head was crowned.

Then he set out, he took his way, and toward the raging Tiamat he set his face.

On his lips he held …, … he grasped in his hand.

Then they beheld him, the gods beheld him, The gods his fathers beheld him, the gods beheld him.

And the lord drew nigh, he gazed upon the inward parts of Tiamat, He perceived the muttering of Kingu, her spouse.