Our God and God of our fathers!

You are my portion

and the rock of my heart

I longed for You in the night

as I lay on my bed;

to You, Adonoy, I call when my heart is faint.

We have betrayed You

and have thus increased Your fury and anger,

we have been stepped on and crushed,

for we have no good deeds.

Our distress has greatly increased,

for we have erred in our vision [of truth]

and stumbled in our judgement, and [even]

all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags.

We lack knowledge,

we are simpletons without wit,

even high angels, You charge with folly,

how much more so man, who is but a worm.

Behold, You lift the isles as dust particles,

should You search and examine wrongdoings,

what could we speak

and how could we justify ourselves?

I searched for one to set up the fence

and stand in the breach,¹

footnotes: ¹ To protect us from destruction with his prayers and good deeds.

but there is no upright one to appease You;

the pious man has perished from the earth.

My destined time²

footnotes: ² Of my redemption from exile.

is hidden from my knowledge,

my iniquities have caused

my glory to be cut down;

indeed, I acknowledge my transgressions.

I cry of violent robbery,

but there is none to deliver me;

why is the righteous surrounded by the wicked?

Your hand is not powerless to deliver us.

Your lambs [Israel] are beaten by [the enemy]

who roar [with triumph] like the sea,

they are ravished and robbed

in the hands of the nations;

“Why have You forgotten us forever,

forsaken us for so long a time.”³

footnotes: ³ Lamentations 5:20.

Jacob has been given for a spoil,

and Israel to plunderers;

she who was honored

with a canopy of seven clouds⁴

footnotes: ⁴ When she left Egypt.

is now dumb like a sheep before shearing.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ Her crying is of no avail.

The miser and degenerate [are seated]

like a king at his table,

while the generous and noble

are banished for their debt,⁶

footnotes: ⁶ The sins of the vile and degenerate.

like an unwanted vessel.

Do not preserve [our iniquity] forever

to destroy us,

when Your left hand thrusts us away,

let Your right hand draw us near;

O Master, we are oppressed,

be our surety.

We have had a bad name from long

and yet You have given hope to the repentant

with a generous spirit, [saying:]

“I will heal their rebelliousness,

I will love them in free-willed devotion.”

My eyes flow like a stream with tears,

the mockers enjoy tranquility

while my gladness has ceased;

and as for me,

in an instant my feet would have slipped.

Seek the lost sheep,

the people that will be saved [by You],

even though they have been found with sin

and transgression from the womb,

and the righteous man has fallen

before the wicked.

[Your] testimony to Jacob

is sealed in the Torah,

that in the land of their enemy,

You promised to preserve them alive,

even were they to be so situated.

Remove transgressions and erase guilt,

lest hell enlarges itself to squeeze in⁷

footnotes: ⁷ To take in more souls.

and opens its mouth without limit.

Behold the storm⁸ and draw near to free us,

footnotes: ⁸ The exile is compared to a storm.

raise us and pull us from the muddy mire,

return, Adonoy, free our souls.

We have sanctified a day of fasting,⁹

footnotes: ⁹ Yom Kippur.

to approach You in prayer,

prepare beforehand healing for our wounds,

remember Your congregation,

which You acquired of old.

Lay aside anger, withhold wrath,

those who are held prisoners [Israel],

pull them out with bonds of love

from the dungeon, where they sit in darkness.

Proclaim liberty

to the broken and desolate,

cut away the bars and break the yoke,¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ Of their exile.

heal her fragments for she totters.¹¹

footnotes: ¹¹ This is a plea for the redemption of the Land of Israel.

You have set repentance [as a remedy]

against the reptile and serpent,¹²

footnotes: ¹² A reference to the Evil Inclination.

I hope in Him Who forgives and pardons,

and even should He slay me,

yet I trust in Him.

Turn Your ear to us, O Creator,

hear O God those who seek You,

listen to those who entreat You,

accept my prayer as incense¹³ before You.

footnotes: ¹³ As an offering of incense.

Strengthen the faint and fortify the feeble,

establish the Temple,

restore the canopy [Your Shechinah],

do good, as You see fit, to Zion.

Almighty! King!

Who sits on the throne of mercy,

governs with kindness

forgives the iniquities of His people.

He removes their sins one by one,

increasing forgiveness to sinners,

and pardon to transgressors.

Acting righteously

with all who are of flesh and spirit;

not according to their wickedness

does He repay them.

Almighty!

You instructed us to recite

the thirteen Divine attributes;

remember unto us this day

the covenant of thirteen Divine attributes,

as You made them known

to the humble Moses of old,

as it is written,

“And Adonoy descended in the cloud,

and stood with him there,

and proclaimed the Name, Adonoy.

Congregation and Chazzan:

And Adonoy passed before him [Moses],

and proclaimed:

Adonoy, Adonoy,

Almighty, Merciful, Gracious,

Slow to Anger,

and Abundant in Kindness, and Truth.

Keeper of kindness

for thousands of generations,

Endurer of iniquity, and transgression,

and sin;

and Acquitter of those who repent.

“And pardon our iniquity and our sin,

and take us for Your inheritance.”

Pardon us our Father, for we have sinned,

forgive us our King, for we have transgressed.

“For You, my Master,

are good and forgiving,

and abounding in kindness

to all who call upon You.”

Too long has our soul dwelt

with those who hate peace.

I am for peace;

but when I speak

they are for war.

Let there be peace within your moats

serenity withing your palaces.

Peace, peace to the far one

and to the near one,

says Adonoy, and I will heal him.

Adonoy, arrange peace for us,

for indeed all our works,

have You done for us.

Adonoy will give strength to His people,

Adony will bless His people with peace.

Rule and awe are with Him,

He Who makes peace in His high heavens.

For you will go out [of exile] with joy,

and be led forth in peace [to Zion].

As a father has compassion on his children

so do You have compassion on us, Adonoy.

Deliverance is Adonoy’s;

upon Your people is Your blessing. Selah!

Adonoy of Hosts is with us,

a stronghold for us is the God of Jacob. Selah!

Adonoy of Hosts!

fortunate is the man who trusts in You.

Adonoy, deliver us;

the King will answer us on the day we call.

“Please pardon the sins of this nation

in accordance with the greatness

of Your lovingkindness;

and as You forgave this people

from when it left Egypt until now.”

And there it is said:

“And Adonoy said,

I have pardoned [them] as you have asked.”

Incline Your ear, my God, and hear,

open Your eyes and behold our desolate places,

and the city which is called by Your Name;

for it is not on account of our righteousness

that we let fall our supplication before You,

but because of Your great mercy.

My Master, hear! My Master, pardon!

My Master, listen and take action,

do not delay!

For Your sake, my God,

because Your Name is proclaimed

over Your city and over Your people.