N.B.: The inundation of the Nile River was deified as the god Hapy. He was believed to be a manifestation of the creator god Ptah. This translation is from M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings. Vol. 1, The Old and Middle Kingdoms (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), 204-210.
Parenthetical remarks in brackets are by the professor.

Adoration of Hapy:
Hail to you, Hapy, Sprung from earth,
Come to nourish Egypt!
Of secret ways,
A darkness by day,
To whom his followers sing!
Who floods the fields that Re has made,
To nourish all who thirst;
Lets drink the waterless desert,
His dew descending from the sky.

Friend of Geb [i.e., the earth-god], lord of Nepri [i.e., the grain-god],
Promoter of the arts of Ptah [i.e., the creator-god, craftsman of living beings].
Lord of the fishes,
He makes fowl stream south,
No bird falling down from heat.
Maker of barley, creator of emmer,
He lets the temples celebrate.

When he is sluggish noses clog,
Everyone is poor;
As the sacred loaves [i.e., temple offerings] are pared,
A million perish among men.
When he plunders, the whole land rages,
Great and small roar;
People change according to his coming,
When Khnum has fashioned him.
When he floods, earth rejoices,
Every belly jubilates,
Every jawbone takes on laughter,
Every tooth is bared.

Food provider, bounty maker,
Who creates all that is good!
Lord of awe, sweetly fragrant,
Gracious when he comes.
Who makes herbage for the herds,
Gives sacrifice for every god.
Dwelling in the netherworld,
He controls both sky and earth.
Conqueror of the Two Lands,
He fills the stores,
Makes bulge the barns,
Gives bounty to the poor.

Grower of all delightful trees--
He has no revenue;
Barges exist by his might--
He is not hewn in stone.
Mountains cleave by his surge--
One sees no workmen, no leader,
He carries off in secrecy.

No one knows the place he's in,
His cavern is not found in books.
He has no shrines, no portions,
No service of his choice;
But youths, his children, hail him,
One greets him like a king.
Lawful, timely, he comes forth,
Filling Egypt, South and North;
As one drinks, all eyes are on him,
Who makes his bounty overflow.

He who grieved goes out in joy,
Every heart rejoices;
Sobk, Neith's child, bares his teeth,
The Nine Gods exult.
As he spouts, makes drink the fields,
Everyone grows vigorous.
Rich because another toils,
One has no quarrel with him;
Maker of food he's not defied,
One sets no limits for him

Light-maker who comes from dark,
Fattener of herds,
Might that fashions all,
None can live without him.
People are clothed with the flax of his fields,
For he made Hedj-hotep [i.e., the weaver-god] serve him;
He made anointing with his unguents,
For he is the like of Ptah.
All kinds of crafts exist through him,
All books of godly words,
His produce from the sedges [i.e., the papyrus plant from which books were made].

Entering the cavern,
Coming out above,
He wants his coming secret.
If he is heavy [i.e., sluggish and insufficient], the people dwindle,
A year's food supply is lost.
The rich man looks concerned,
Everyone is seen with weapons,

Friend does not attend to friend.
Cloth is wanting for one's clothes,
Noble children lack their finery;
There's no eye-paint to be had,
No one is anointed.

This truth is fixed in people's hearts:
Want is followed by deceit.
He who consorts with the sea,
Does not harvest grain.
Though one praises all the gods,
Birds will not come down to deserts.
No one beats his hand with gold,
No man can get drunk on silver,
One can not eat lapis lazuli,
Barley is foremost and strong!

Songs to the harp are made for you,
One sings to you with clapping hands;
The youths, your children hail you,
Crowds adorn themselves for you,
Who comes with riches, decks the land,
Makes flourish every body;
Sustains the pregnant woman's heart,
And loves a multitude of herds.

When he rises at the residence,
Men feast on the meadows' gifts,
Decked with lotus for the nose,
And all the things that sprout from earth.
Children's hands are filled with herbs,
They forget to eat.
Good things are strewn about the houses,
The whole land leaps for joy.

When you overflow, O Hapy,
Sacrifice is made for you;
Oxen are slaughtered for you,
A great oblation is made to you.
Fowl is fattened for you,
Desert game snared for you,
As one repays your bounty.

One offers to all the gods
Of that which Hapy has provided,
Choice incense, oxen, goats,
And birds in holocaust.

Mighty is Hapy in his cavern [i.e., the source of the Nile]
His name unknown to those below,
For the gods do not reveal it.
You people who extol the gods,
Respect the awe his son has made,
The All-Lord who sustains the shores!
Oh joy when you come!
Oh joy when you come, O Hapy,
Oh joy when you come!
You who feed men and herds
With your meadow gifts!
Oh joy when you come!
Oh joy when you come, O Hapy,
Oh joy when you come!