If our iniquities testify against us,

we come before You [with remorse]

and we rely on Your [merciful] Name;

as a father has mercy on his children,

so too have mercy on us,

as one who is comforted by his mother,

may we be comforted by You.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

You Adonoy are good and forgiving,

but the evil inclination has corrupted us,

—Your children—despite their transgression

You will not cast them off;

our devastated hearts are gripped by sin.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ The stench of our sin.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

You Who are great in kindness,

Who preserves merit

for thousands of generations,

deal with us with Your mercy and kindness,

and not with the opposite attributes.

Your promise⁵ was not empty or misleading,

footnotes: ⁵ Of benevolence.

therefore we yearn for Your kindness

as those who are exhausted and faint.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

With rapt attention [Your] messenger⁶ listened

footnotes: ⁶ Moses.

[to Your words that he might know] if even those who desecrate Your Torah

might still be saved;

You strengthened him

[by] teaching him Your way of amnesty,

with that same attribute, acquit us.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

Remembering forgotten things—

this is Your praise,

You diminish [Your] anger, [causing it to last]

no longer than a spoken word;

[therefore] articulate life [for us]

in Your judgement.

Grant us undeserved grace

as You search our hearts.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

Into the mud amidst the stormy sea

cause our sins to sink—

the unintentional, the intentional,

the hidden ones and the revealed;

[You] know that our [evil] inclination

has caused us to do these deeds,

lift Your hand to do good for us.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

You search the innards of man

and the paths of his heart, [to know]

does he walk in the proper and upright path

or does he follow the whim of his heart?

Is his heart humble or is he insulting?

Let the bitterness of sin

be sweetened [with repentance],

that he not return as a “dog to his vomit.”⁷

footnotes: ⁷ An idiomatic expression used by the Sages to describe one who returns to his previous sin.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

You save even those

whose judgements indicate a death penalty,

we cry out to You with yearning:

lighten and remove the burden of iniquity

lest it becomes part of us;

may our sins be forgiven and forgotten

when the Accuser comes to indict us.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

[Although] the record of our guilt

has been signed by witnesses,

declare his indictment a forgery

and thereby silence his claim;

our sins are as visible as a stain,

through Your mercy, let them be removed.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

Clear the stone⁸ from Your path

footnotes: ⁸ This refers to the Evil Inclination which is an impediment to us.

let it be straightened;

turn to our never emptying river of tears,

this rock⁹ is an obstacle for young and old—

footnotes: ⁹ See previous note.

destroy it,

and as an eagle has mercy on her nestlings

have mercy on Your habitation.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

“Quick to be appeased”—this is Your praise,

the heavy yoke born by Your legion—

let it be modified and exchanged;

Your quarrel [with the sinner] is not eternal,

have mercy [even] in Your anger,

[even] when You exercise judgement.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

Some repent in their later years,

but more praiseworthy are those

who repent in their earlier years,

it is good to be implanted in uprighteness,

from early youth;

shield us, free us from Your anger,

be gracious with us.

The letter ‘Tov,’ symbolizing life, ¹⁰ (תחיה)

footnotes: ¹⁰ See Mesechet Shabbos 55a.

engrave on our foreheads.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

Extend greetings of peace to the penitent,

[though he has sanctified himself only] a bit,

help him—sanctify him in great measure.

The righteous¹¹ and their opposites—

footnotes: ¹¹ The word בַכּוּרוֹת actually refers to ripe figs. See Mesechet Eruvin 21b where the righteous are referred to as ripe figs.

unite them in pleasantness.

let the righteous and begrudger

be together in pleasantness.

Do not rebuke us with Your anger,

lest we be [completely] diminished.

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.”