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You thought you would always be a queen,
    and did not take these things to heart
    or think how it all would end.

(A)“Listen to this, you lover of pleasure,
    you that think you are safe and secure.
You claim you are as great as God—
    that there is no one else like you.
You thought that you would never be a widow
    or suffer the loss of your children.
But in a moment, in a single day,
    both of these things will happen.
In spite of all the magic you use,
    you will lose your husband and children.

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You said, ‘I am forever(A)
    the eternal queen!’(B)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect(C) on what might happen.(D)

“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security(E)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.(F)
I will never be a widow(G)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,(H) on a single day:
    loss of children(I) and widowhood.(J)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries(K)
    and all your potent spells.(L)

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And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.

Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:

But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

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