The following prayer was composed by Rabbi Saadyah Gaon.

And so may it be Your will

Adonoy, our God, and God of our fathers,

that this coming year

be for us,

and for all Your people, the House of Israel,

the end and limit of the captivity

of Your people, the House of Israel;

and the last of our exile and mourning,

and a happy end

to our days of affliction and misery;

for our servitude has been protracted,

and the yoke of captivity is long upon us;

and behold each day

we become more and more diminished,

and with the increase in years,

we are less in number,

and in the length of time,

we are dwindling away.

We have no leader

nor anyone to strengthen our hands,

[for] it is as You said [Jeremiah 15:5]:

“For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?

And who will moan over you?

And who will turn

to inquire about your well-being?”

Who will erect a [spiritual] fence,

and who will stand in the breach?

There is no longer a prophet or seer,

and there is no one

that calls upon Your Name in truth,

that is inspired to grasp You;

for we are all like sheep gone astray,

each one

has turned to his evil way,

every man after his gain

and everyone

after the desire of his evil heart;

and, as if we were not content

with our previous iniquities,

we have added new ones to them,

we were heedless of all the warnings

with which You warned us,

and we were not chastised

by all the admonishment

with which You rebuked us;

and what other righteousness have we

that we can cry out to the King?

Our God and God of our fathers,

let our prayer come before you

and do not ignore our supplication.

For we are not so brazen-faced

and stiff-necked

to say to you,

Adonoy, our God, and God of our fathers,

“We are righteous and have not sinned.”

But, indeed, we and our fathers have sinned.

We have trespassed [against God and man, and we are devastated by our guilt];

We have betrayed [God and man, we have been ungrateful for the good done to us];

We have stolen; We have slandered;

We have caused others to sin;

We have caused others to commit sins for which they are called רֽשָׁעִים, wicked;

We have sinned with malicious intent;

We have forcibly taken other’s possessions

We have added falsehood upon falsehood; We have joined with evil individuals or groups.

We have given harmful advice;

We have deceived; We have mocked;

We have rebelled against God and His Torah;

We have caused God to be angry with us;

We have turned away from God’s Torah;

We have sinned deliberately;

We have been negligent in our performance of the commandments;

We have caused our friends grief;

We have been stiff-necked, refusing to admit that the cause of our suffering is our own sins.

We have committed sins for which we are called רָשָׁע, [raising a hand to hit someone].

We have committed sins which are the result of moral corruption;

We have committed sins which the Torah refers to as abominations;

We have gone astray;

We have led others astray.

We have turned away

from Your commandments

and from Your good laws,

and we have gained nothing from it.

And You are the Righteous One

in all [punishment] that has come upon us;

for You have acted truthfully

and we have acted wickedly.