This prayer, too, was composed by R’ Saadyah Gaon.

And now Adonoy, our God,

after we have repented, we regret [our sins],

and after realizing [our guilt],

we struck ourselves on the thigh.

We are ashamed, even disgraced,

for we also bear the shame of our youth.¹

footnotes: ¹ Jeremiah 31:18.

Because of this

we take our flesh in our teeth,²

footnotes: ² We bite ourselves.

and put our life in our hands.³

footnotes: ³ Job 13:14.

How shall we approach You,

Adonoy, our God,

and how shall we bow unto You,

exalted God?⁴

footnotes: ⁴ Micah 6:6.

How will You be reconciled to us

and atone all our sins,

which have passed by and gone

like water spilt on the ground,

which cannot be gathered up again?⁵

footnotes: ⁵ II Samuel 14:14.

If through repentance and confession

You will be reconciled to us,

behold we repent and confess

before You Adonoy, our God:

“We have sinned and transgressed,

and that which is straight, we distorted,

and it has not profited us.”

And if through prayer and supplication

You will forgive us,

behold we offer our supplication before You;

“As the eyes of servants [look]

toward the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maiden [look]

toward the hand of her mistress;

so our eyes are lifted to You.”⁶

footnotes: ⁶ Psalms 123:2.

And if through weeping and wailing

You will pardon us,

behold, our soul weeps in secret

because of our sins,

and our spirit groans within us

over the multitude of our transgressions.

And if through a broken spirit,

You will atone us,

behold our heart is broken within us,

and our spirit is crushed

by the troubles and travails

which have passed over us,

until there is nothing left

whole in our flesh.

Were it not for Your mercy and kindness,

we would have perished

because of our iniquities.

We have trespassed

more than any other people,

we are more ashamed

than any other generation;

happiness has departed from us,

our hearts are miserable with our sins;

[the place of] our desire has been devastated,

[the place of] our glory has been humiliated,

the abode of our Holy Temple

has been destroyed because of our iniquities;

our Palace has become a desolation,

our beautiful land belongs to strangers,

our strength [wealth] to foreigners.

Still, we have not repented our errors,

so how can we be so insolent

and obstinate

as to say before You,

“Adonoy, our God, and God of our fathers,

we are righteous and have not sinned.”

But indeed we and our fathers have sinned:

And now Adonoy, our God,

if we did like our foolishness,

You do according to Your trait and forgive

because You are perfect and complete.

If we repaid evil in exchange for good

still grant us good and not evil;

because even a righteous person forgives

and certainly the Creator should do this.

If we transgressed so extensively,

You are capable of excessive kindness

and can forgive extensively

since Your righteousness and kindness

are greater than high and mighty mountains,

and more profound than the greatest depths.

Your glory covers the heavens

and Your praise fills the earth.

Adonoy, we heard Your reputation—

that with one of Your character traits

You forgive those who sinned against You

and even all of those who sinned.

Forgive our intentional and unintentional sins

and all the sins and iniquities of Israel,

and cleanse us from our iniquity

and purify us from our sins.

Don’t be excessively angry at us

and don’t remember our iniquity forever,

since You have the vast capacity to forgive.

And You, Adonoy,

intended to rid us of our refuse,

and to remove our unworthiness¹

footnotes: ¹ Lit. tin.

and break our straying heart,

and destroy our defilement from within us.

Therefore, You exiled us

and scattered us among the nations.

Behold, in the pandemonium of kingdoms

we drowned

and like the smelting of silver

in a vat we were melted

and it was not because of Your inability

that You did not save us,

nor because of deafness in Your ears

that You did not hear our prayers.

Rather our sins separated

us from Your deliverance.

Righteousness is Yours, Adonoy

while the shame is ours.

To Adonoy, our God,

is mercy and forgiveness

because we have rebelled against Him

and to You, God, is only kindness

because You pay [reward]

a person according to his deeds.

And You, Adonoy, our God,

Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,

will You eternally be angry at us?

Will Your anger endure for all generations?

God forbid!

Will You forsake forever

and not forgive again?

God forbid!

Because forever there will not cease

Your performance of kindness

and Your mercy will not stop

since this trait is renewed daily

and is created at all times

and every moment.

For the sake of Your Name, Adonoy

perform with us (your kindness and forgive us)

because this is Your praise

and because Your Name is called upon us,

Adonoy, God of Israel;

and for the sake of the covenant,

with our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

that You made with them;

and the oath

that You swore to them, remember.

And for the sake of Your Torah

and the holy ones who study it,

for they have been diminished and subdued.

And You have promised us in its regard

that the Law will never be forgotten

from his seed;

“And My words that I placed in their mouths

will never cease”;

and for the sake of Your nation and inheritance

of which only a few remain from many

as a rod placed on a mountain top

or a banner on a hill.

For the sake of Jerusalem, Your holy city,

that became a desolate wilderness

and all its glory was taken from it;

and for the sake

of our house of life and beauty

that for which our ancestors praised You

and that was consumed by fire,

and all of its treasures destroyed.

For the sake of those who were killed

[because they upheld] Your holy Name

and for those who were slaughtered

[because they expounded] Your singularity.

For the sake of Your holy Torah

that was burned in fire

and cast to be trodden upon

by all passers-by.

In view of all these tragedies

will [You] Adonoy, restrain Yourself,

therefore hasten to answer us

to the greatest extent.

Behold all of the nations

dwell in tranquility without turmoil

whereas the poor of Your people,

are tormented and denigrated and unsettled

and in their turmoil they seek You

and extend their supplication

opposite the Ark of Your covenant.

Adonoy, the God of Hosts,

until when will You continue

not to have mercy on Jerusalem

and the cities of Judah

against whom You were angered

for so many years,

and see Your nation

in great fear.

There is no one to unite and help them

and there is no savior for Israel.

We have turned to the right

and there is no savior;

to the left and there is no support,

and for us,

we can rely on no one

except upon You

our Father in heaven.

Now is the time and the opportunity

that it behooves You to help

and to promulgate

the intensity of Your mercy

that always existed

for it [Your mercy] is very great.

When Israel sinned in the desert,

Moses, our teacher stood

and prayed before You,

and beseeched You for mercy

upon Your nation, Israel,

and said the following in his prayer:

“My King and my God,

please forgive the sin of this people

with the immensity of Your kindness,

just as You forgave this nation

from Egypt until the present time.

And You responded to him

in your manner of goodness

and You spoke and said to him,

“I forgive [them] as you ask.”

We are ashamed of our actions

and we are disgraced with our sins

and our faces are blackened

from our sins.

Our statures are bent

because of our guilt

and we have no excuse to offer

nor audacity to raise our heads.