[He repeats the preceding description of Tiamat’s preparations, and announces that Marduk has agreed to face the foe.]

     I sent Anu, naught can he against her. 
     Nudimmud was afraid and turned cowering back,
     Marduk accepted the task, the ruler of gods, your son,
     Against Tiamat to march his heart impels him. 
     So speaks he to me: 
     If I succeed, I, your avenger,
     Conquer Tiamat and save your lives. 
     Come, ye all, and declare me supreme,
     In Upsukkenaku enter ye joyfully all. 
     With my mouth will I bear rule,
     Unchangeable be whate’er I do,
     The word of my lips be never reversed or gainsaid. 
     Come and to him give over the rule,
     That he may go and meet the evil foe. 
     Gaga went, strode on his way,
     Humbly before Lachmu and Lachamu, the gods, his fathers,
     He paid his homage and kissed the ground,
     Bent lowly down and to them spake:—­
     Anshar, your son, has sent me,
     Told me the desire of his heart.

[Gaga then repeats Anshar’s message at length, and the narrative proceeds.]

Lachmu and Lachamu heard and were afraid, The Igigi all lamented sore:  What change has come about that she thus hates us?  We cannot understand this deed of Tiamat.  With hurry and haste they went, The great gods, all the dealers of fate, ... with eager tongue, sat themselves down to the feast.  Bread they ate, wine they drank, The sweet wine entered their souls, They drank their fill, full were their bodies.

[In this happy state they were ready to accept Marduk’s conditions.]

     To Marduk, their avenger, they gave over the rule. 
     They lifted him up on a lofty throne,
     Above his fathers he took his place as judge:—­
     Most honored be thou among the great gods,
     Unequaled thy rule, thy word is Anu. 
     From this time forth thy command be not gainsaid;
     To lift up and cast down be the work of thy hand;
     The speech of thy mouth stand fast, thy word be irresistible,
     None of the gods shall intrude on thy domain,
     Fullness of wealth, the desire of the temples of the gods,
     Be the portion of thy shrine, though they be in need. 
     Marduk, thou, our avenger,
     Thine be the kingdom over all forever. 
     Sit thee down in might, noble be thy word,
     Thy arms shall never yield, the foes they shall crush. 
     O lord, he who trusts in thee, him grant thou life,
     But the deity who set evil on foot, her life pour out. 
     Then in the midst they placed a garment. 
     To Marduk their first-born thus spake they:—­
     Thy rule, O lord, be chief among the gods,
     To destroy and to create—­speak and let it be. 
     Open thy mouth, let the garment vanish. 
     Utter again thy command, let the garment appear. 
     He spake with his mouth,