THE NEGATIVE CONFESSION OF THE EGYPTIANS
(Sir P. Le Page Renouf's Translation)
(See [page 186])
The 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead contains the confession which the soul of the dead man was required to make before Osiris and the forty-two divine judges of the dead, before he could be justified and admitted to the Paradise of Aalu:—
Said on arriving at the Hall of Righteousness, that N (the soul of the dead man) may be loosed from all the sins which he hath committed, and that he may look upon the divine countenances.
He saith:—Hail to thee, mighty God, lord of Righteousness!
I am come to thee, O my Lord! I have brought myself that I may look upon thy glory. I know thee, and I know the name of the forty-two gods who make their appearance with thee in the Hall of Righteousness; devouring those who harbour mischief and swallowing their blood, upon the day of the searching examination in the presence of Un-neferu (Osiris).
Verily "Thou of the Pair of Eyes, Lord of Righteousness," is thy name.
Here am I; I am come to thee; I bring to thee Right and have put a stop to Wrong.
I am not a doer of wrong to men.
I am not one who slayeth his kindred.
I am not one who telleth lies instead of truth.
I am not conscious of treason.
I am not a doer of mischief.
I do not exact as the first-fruits of each day more work than should be done for me.
My name cometh not to the Bark of the god who is at the Helm.
I am not a transgressor against the God.
I am not a tale-bearer.
I am not a detractor.
I am not a doer of that which the gods abhor.
I hurt no servant with his master.
I cause no famine.
I cause not weeping.
I am not a murderer.
I give not orders for murder.
I cause not suffering to men.
I reduce not the offering in the temples.
I lessen not the cakes of the gods.
I rob not the dead of their funereal food.
I am not an adulterer.
I am undefiled in the sanctuary of the god of my domain.
I neither increase nor diminish the measures of grain.
I am not one who shorteneth the palm's length.
I am not one who cutteth short the field's measurement.
I put not pressure upon the beam of the balance.
I snatch not the milk from the mouth of infants.
I drive not the cattle from their pastures.
I net not the birds of the manors of the gods.
I catch not the fish of their ponds.
I stop not the water at its appointed time.
I divide not an arm of the water in its course.
I extinguish not the lamp during its appointed time.
I do not defraud the Divine Circle of their sacrificial joints.
I drive not away the cattle of the sacred estate.
I stop not a god when he cometh forth.