The Standard Prayer Book: Additional Service for the Day of Atonement

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, the great, mighty and revered God, the most high God, who bestowest lovingkindnesses and possessest all things; who rememberest the pious deeds of the patriarchs, and in love wilt bring a redeemer to their children's children for thy name's sake.

Remember us unto life, O King, who delightest in life, and inscribe us in the book of life, for thine own sake, O living God.

O King, Helper, Savior and Shield. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the Shield of Abraham.

Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever, thou quickenest the dead, thou art mighty to save.

Thou sustainest the living with lovingkindness, quickenest the dead with greet mercy, supportest the falling, healest the sick, loosest the bound, and keepest thy faith to them that sleep in the dust. Who is like unto thee Lord of mighty acts, and who resembleth thee, O King, who killest and quickenest, and causest salvation to spring forth?

Who is like unto thee, Father of mercy, who in mercy rememberest thy creatures unto life?

Yea, faithful art thou to quicken the dead. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead.

Thou art holy, and thy name is holy, and holy being. praise thee daily. (Selah.)

Now, therefore, O Lord our God, impose thine awe upon all thy works, and thy dread upon all that thou hast created, that all works may fear thee and all creatures prostrate themselves before thee, that they may all form a single band to do thy will with a perfect heart, even as we know, O Lord our God, that dominion is thine, strength is in thy hand, and might in thy right hand, and that thy name is to be feared above all that thou hast created.

Give then glory, O Lord, unto thy people, praise to them that fear thee, hope to them that seek thee, and free speech to them that wait for thee, joy to thy land, gladness to thy city, a flourishing horn unto David thy servant, and a clear shining light unto the son of Jesse, thine anointed, speedily in our days.

Then shall the just also see and be glad, and the upright shall exult, and the pious triumphantly rejoice, while iniquity shall close her mouth, and all wickedness shall be wholly consumed like smoke, when thou makest the dominion of arrogance to pass away from the earth.

And thou, O Lord, shalt reign, thou alone over all thy works on Mount Zion, the dwelling place of thy glory, and in Jerusalem, thy holy city, as it is written in thy Holy Words, The Lord shall reign for ever, thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord.

Holy art thou, and dreaded is thy name, and there is no God beside thee, as it is written, And the Lord of hosts is exalted in judgment, and the holy God is sanctified in righteousness. Blessed art thou, O Lord, the holy King.

Thou hast chosen us from all peoples, thou hast loved us and taken pleasure in us, and hast exalted us above all tongues; thou hast sanctified us by thy commandments, and hast brought us near unto thy service, O our King, and hast called us by thy great and holy name.

And thou, hast given us in love, O Lord our God, [this Sabbath day for holiness and rest, and] this Day of Atonement for pardon, forgiveness and atonement, that we may [in love] obtain pardon thereon for all our iniquities; an holy convocation, as a memorial of the departure from Egypt.

But on account of our sins we were exiled from our land, and removed far from our country, and we are unable to fulfil our obligations in thy chosen house, that great and holy temple which was called by thy

name because of the hand that hath been stretched out against thy sanctuary. May it be thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, merciful King, that thou mayest again in thine abundant compassion have mercy upon us and upon thy sanctuary, and mayest speedily rebuild it and magnify its glory. Our Father, our King, do thou speedily make the glory of thy kingdom manifest upon us; shine forth and exalt thyself upon us in the sight of all living; bring our scattered ones among the nations near unto thee, and gather our dispersed from the ends of the earth. Lead us with exultation unto Zion thy city, and unto Jerusalem the place of thy sanctuary, with everlasting joy; and there we will prepare before thee the offerings that are obligatory for us, the continual offerings according to their order, and the additional offerings according to their enactment: and the additional offerings of [this Sabbath day and] this day of Atonement we will prepare and offer unto thee in love according to the precept of thy will, as thou hast prescribed for us in thy Law through the hand of Moses thy servant, by the mouth of thy glory, as it is said:—

[And on the Sabbath day two he-lambs of the first year without blemish, and two-tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof; this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering and the drink offering thereof.]

And on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall

afflict your souls, ye shall do no manner of work. And ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the Lord for a sweet savor; one young bullock, one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year; they shall be unto you without blemish. And their meal offering and their drink offerings as hath been ordained; three-tenth parts of an ephah for each bullock, and two-tenth parts for the ram, and one-tenth part for each lamb, with wine according to the drink offering thereof, and two he-goats wherewith to make atonement, and the two continual offerings according to their enactment.

[They that keep the Sabbath and call it a delight shall rejoice in thy kingdom; the people that hallow the seventh day, even all of them shall be satiated and delighted with thy goodness, seeing that thou didst find pleasure in the seventh day and didst hallow it; thou didst call it the desirable of days, in remembrance of the creation.]

Our God and God of our fathers, pardon our iniquities [on this Sabbath day, and] on this Day of Atonement; blot out our transgressions and our sins, and make them pass away from before thine eyes; as it is said, I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins. And it is said, I have blotted out, as a cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a mist, thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. And it is said, For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the Lord. [Our God and God of our fathers, accept our rest.] Sanctify us by thy commandments, and grant

our portion in thy Law; satisfy us with thy goodness and gladden us with thy salvation; [and let us inherit, O Lord our God, in love and favor, thy holy Sabbath and may Israel, who hallow thy name, rejoice thereon] and purify our hearts to serve thee in truth; for thou art the forgiver of Israel and the pardoner of the tribes of Jeshurun in every generation, and beside thee We have no king who pardoneth and forgiveth. Blessed art thou, O Lord, thou King who pardonest and forgivest our iniquities and the iniquities of thy people, the house of Israel, who makest our trespasses to pass away year by year, King over all the earth, who sanctifiest [the Sabbath and] Israel and the day of Atonement.

Accept, O Lord our God, thy people Israel and their prayer; restore the service to the oracle of thy house; receive in love and favor both the fire offerings of Israel and their prayer; and may the service of thy people Israel be ever acceptable unto thee.

And let our eyes behold thy return in mercy to Zion. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who restorest thy divine presence unto Zion.

We give thanks unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God and the God of our fathers for ever and ever; thou art the Rock of

We give thanks unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God and the God of our fathers, the God of all flesh, our Creator and the Creator of all things in the beginning.

[paragraph continues] Blessings and thanksgivings be to thy great and holy name, because thou hast kept us in life and hast preserved us: so mayest thou continue to keep us in life and to preserve us. O gather our exiles to thy holy courts to observe thy statutes, to do thy will, and to serve thee with a perfect heart; seeing that we give thanks unto thee. Blessed be the God to whom thanksgivings are due.

our lives, the Shield of our salvation through every generation. We will give thanks unto thee and declare thy praise for our lives which are committed unto thy hand, and for our souls which are in thy charge, and for thy miracles, which are daily with us, and for thy wonders and thy benefits, which are wrought at all times, evening, morn and noon. O thou who art all-good, whose mercies fail not; thou, merciful Being, whose lovingkindnesses never cease, we have ever hoped in thee.

For all these things thy name, O our King, shall be continually blessed and exalted for ever and ever.

And everything that liveth shall give thanks unto thee for ever, and shall praise thy name in truth, O God, our salvation and our help. Blessed art thou, O Lord, whose name is All-good, and unto whom it is becoming to give thanks.

At the repetition of the Amidah by the Reader, the following is introduced:—

three-fold blessing of thy Law written by the hand of Moses thy servant, which was spoken by Aaron and his sons, the priests, thy holy people, as it is said, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord turn his face unto thee, and give thee peace.

Grant peace, welfare, blessing, grace, lovingkindness and mercy unto us and unto all Israel, thy people. Bless us, O our Father, even all of us together, with the light of thy countenance; for by the light of thy countenance thou hast given us, O Lord our God, the Law of life, lovingkindness and righteousness, blessing, mercy, life and peace; and may it be good in thy sight to bless thy people Israel at all times and in every hour with thy peace.

In the book of life, blessing, peace and good sustenance may we be remembered and inscribed before thee, we and all thy people the house of Israel, for a happy life and for peace. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who makest peace.

Let our prayer come before thee; hide not thyself from our supplication, for we are not arrogant and stiff-necked, that we should say before thee, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, we are righteous and have not sinned; but verily, we have sinned

We have trespassed, we have been faithless, we have robbed, we have spoken basely, we have committed iniquity, we have wrought unrighteousness, we have been presumptuous, we have done violence, we have forged lies, we have counselled evil, we have spoken falsely, we have scoffed, we have revolted, we have blasphemed, we have been rebellious, we have acted perversely, we have transgressed, we have persecuted we have been stiff-necked, we have done wickedly, we have corrupted ourselves, we have committed abomination, we have gone astray, and we have led astray.

We have turned aside from thy commandments and good judgments, and it hath profited us nought. But thou art righteous in all that is come upon us; for thou hast acted truthfully, but we have wrought unrighteousness.

What shall we say before thee, O thou who dwellest on high, and what shall we recount unto thee, thou who abidest in the heavens? dost thou not know all things, both the hidden and the revealed?

Thou knowest the secrets of eternity and the most hidden mysteries of all living. Thou searchest the innermost recesses, and triest the reins and the heart. Nought is concealed from thee, or hidden from thine eyes.

May it then be thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, to forgive us for all our sins, to pardon us for all our iniquities, and to grant us remission for all our transgressions.

For the sin which we have committed before thee under compulsion, or of our own will;

And for the sin which we have committed before thee by the sinful meditating of the heart:

And for the sin which we have committed before thee by confession with the mouth alone:

For the sin which we have committed before thee by despising parents and teachers;

And for the sin which we have committed before thee by the profanation of the divine Name:

And for the sin which we have committed before thee by the stretched forth neck of pride:

For the sin which we have committed before thee by the conversation of our lips;

For the sin which we have committed before thee by breaking off the yoke of thy commandments;

And for the sins for which we owe an offering, whether for certain or for doubtful trespass.

And for the sins for which we are liable to the penalty of death by the hand of heaven:

And for the sins for which we are liable to the penalty of excision and childlessness:

And also for the sins for which we are liable to any of the four death penalties inflicted by the court,—stoning, burning, beheading, and strangling; for the violation of positive, or for the violation of negative precepts, whether these latter do or do not admit of a remedy by the subsequent fulfilment of a positive command; for all our sins, whether they be or be not manifest to us. Such sins as are manifest to us, we have already declared and confessed unto thee, while such as are not manifest unto us, are manifest and known unto thee, according to the word that hath been spoken, The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Law. For thou art the forgiver of Israel and the pardoner of the tribes of Jeshurun in every generation, and beside thee we have no king, who pardoneth and forgiveth.

O my God, before I was formed I was nothing worth, and now that I have been formed I am but as though I had not been formed. Dust am I in my life: how much more so in my death. Behold I am before thee like a vessel filled with shame and confusion.

[paragraph continues] O may it be thy will, O Lord my God and God of my fathers, that I may sin no more, and as to the sins I have committed, purge them away in thine abounding compassion though not by means of affliction and sore diseases.

O my God! guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking guile; and to such as curse me let my soul be dumb, yea, let my soul be unto all as the dust. Open my heart to thy Law, and let my soul pursue thy commandments. If any design evil against me, speedily make their counsel of none effect, and frustrate their designs. Do it for the sake of thy name, do it for the sake of thy right hand, do it for the sake of thy holiness, do it for the sake of thy Law. In order that thy beloved ones may be delivered, O save with thy right hand, and answer me. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before thee, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. He who maketh peace in his high places, may he make peace for us and for all Israel, and say ye, Amen.

May it be thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, that the temple be speedily rebuilt in our days, and grant our portion in thy Law. And there we will serve thee with awe, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.

For the Blessing of the Priests when the Day of Atonement falls on a week-day, see pp. 347–348

ADDITIONAL SERVICE FOR THE DAY OF ATONEMENT