This prayer is born from my experiences the past six months and preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. May it bring about genuine repentance among those who are called by God’s name.
O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to all who love You, and to those who keep Your commandments. Lord, we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and we have rebelled—even by departing from Your precepts and from Your judgments. Neither, Lord, have we heeded Your servants, the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our rulers, our leaders, our fathers, and to all the people of our land.
O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us great confusion, as it is today, because of our trespasses that we have trespassed against You, because we have sinned against You. To You, Lord our God, belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against You; neither have we obeyed Your voice, to walk in Your laws, which You set before us by Your servants the prophets. Indeed, this whole congregation has transgressed Your law, even by departing, that we might not obey Your voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses Your servant, because we have sinned against You. And You have confirmed Your words, which You spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us. Yet, we did not make our prayer before You, Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore have You brought this evil upon us, for You, Lord our God, are righteous in all Your works which You do; for we did not obey Your voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought forth Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and earned renown for Yourself; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, we beseech You, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your holy mountain. Therefore, O Lord our God, hear the prayer of Your servants, and their supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate, for Your name’s sake. O God, incline Your ear, and hear. Open Your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You for our righteousness, but for Your great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do. Do not defer, for Your own sake, O God, for Your city and Your people who are called by Your name.
You are the Rock, Your work is perfect, for all Your ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right are You. Remember us, O God, for good.
We stand still, that we may reason before You Lord and tell of all Your righteous acts, which You did to us and to our fathers. We remember the days of old and consider the years of many generations. You, even You, are the Lord alone; You made the heavens with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is therein, and You preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships You. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees. You gave him the name of Abraham, found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites—to give it to his seed and You have performed Your words, for You are righteous.
When You, Most High, divided to the nations their inheritance and separated the sons of Adam, You set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For Your portion is Your people; Jacob is the lot of Your inheritance. A Syrian ready to perish was our father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and there became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. The Egyptians sought to do evil against us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage upon us. When we cried unto You, Lord God of our fathers, You heard our voice and looked on our affliction, on our labor, and our oppression. You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard our cry by the Red Sea. You performed signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, on all his servants, and on all the people of his land; for You knew that they dealt proudly against us. In so doing, You earned Your reputation, as it has continued to this day. You, Lord, brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terribleness, with signs, and with wonders. And You divided the sea before us, so that we went through the midst of the sea on dry land; and You threw our persecutors into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters. Moreover You led us in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give us light in the way we were to go. You came down upon Sinai, and spoke with us from heaven, and gave us right judgments, true laws, good statutes, and commandments. You made Your holy Sabbath known to us, and commanded precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Your servant. You gave us bread from heaven for our hunger, and brought forth water for us out of the rock for our thirst, and promised us that we should go in to possess the land which You swore to give us. But we and our fathers dealt proudly, and stiffened our necks, and hearkened not to Your commandments, and refused to obey, neither were we mindful of Your wonders that You performed among us; but stiffened our necks, and in our rebellion appointed a captain to return us to our bondage.
But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and did not forsake us. Even when we made a golden calf, and said, “This is our God who brought us up out of Egypt,” provoking You with great provocations—even then, You, in Your manifold mercies did not forsake us in the wilderness, permitting the pillar of the cloud to remain by day, to lead us in the way, and the pillar of fire by night, to show us light, and the way wherein we should go. You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct us, and did not withhold manna from our mouths, and gave us water for our thirst. Indeed, You sustained us for forty years in the wilderness, so that we lacked nothing—our clothes did not wear out, and our feet were not swollen. You found us in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness; You led us about, You instructed us, You kept us as the apple of Your eye. As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads open her wings, takes them, bearing them on her wings, even so You, Lord, alone did lead us, and there was no strange god with us. You made us ride on the high places of the earth, that we might eat the increase of the fields; and You made us to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; butter, milk, with fat of lambs and rams and goats, with the abundance of wheat, and to drink the pure blood of the grape.
You then brought us into this place, and gave us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey. Moreover You gave us kingdoms and nations, and divided them into corners, so that we possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. You also multiplied our children as the stars of heaven, and brought them into the land, just as You promised to our fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land, and You subdued the inhabitants of the land before us and gave them into our hands, with their kings and the people of the land, that we might do with them as we would. And we took strong cities, a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells, vineyards, oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance. So did we eat and were full. We became fat and delighted ourselves in Your great goodness.
Nevertheless we were disobedient and rebelled against You. We cast Your law behind our backs, slew Your prophets who testified against us in an effort to turn us to You, and we greatly provoked You. Therefore, You delivered us into the hand of our enemies, who vexed us. In the time of our trouble, when we cried unto You, You heard us from heaven and, according to Your manifold mercies, You gave us saviors, who saved us out of the hand of our enemies. But after we had rest, we did evil yet again in Your sight. Therefore You left us in the hand of our enemies, so that they had dominion over us. Yet when we returned and cried to You, You heard from heaven—and time after time You delivered us according to Your mercies; and testified against us, that You might bring us back to Your law. Yet, we dealt proudly and would not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments (which, if a man would do them, he would live in them). We withdrew our shoulders, stiffened our necks, and would not hear. Yet, year after year You had patience with us, testifying against us by Your Spirit through Your prophets. Yet, we would not listen. Therefore, You gave us into the hand of the people of the lands.
Nevertheless for Your great mercies’ sake, You did not utterly consume us, nor did You forsake us—for You are a gracious and merciful God. What one nation in the earth is like Your people whom You went to redeem as a people to Yourself, to make a name for Yourself, and to do great and terrible things for us, for Your land, before Your people, who You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For You have confirmed to Yourself Your people to be a people unto Yourself forever and You, Lord, have become our God.
When Jacob came into Egypt, and our fathers cried to You, Lord, and You sent Moses and Aaron, who brought our fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. And then we forgot You, Lord our God, and You sold us into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and we fought against them. And we cried to You, Lord, and said, “We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served other gods; but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies and we will serve You.” And You sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered us out of the hand of our enemies on every side, and we dwelt in safety. Then when we saw Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, come against us we said, “A king shall reign over us”—even though You, Lord our God, were our king—and, behold, You set a king over us. Yet, against Samuel’s caution, we would not obey Your voice, but rebelled against Your commandment, causing Your hand to be against us, as it was against our fathers.
Again we grew fat and thick, covered with fatness, and forsook You, the God who made us, and lightly esteemed the Rock of our salvation. We provoked You to jealousy with strange gods, and provoked You to anger with abominations. We sacrificed to devils, not to You; to gods we did not know, to newly created gods, which our fathers did not fear. Of the Rock that created us, we were unmindful and forgot You, God that formed us. We have corrupted ourselves. We are a perverse and crooked generation.
How have the faithful become harlots! Those who were full of judgment and righteousness; but now are murderers. Our silver has become dross, our wine mixed with water. Our leaders are rebellious and companions of thieves—every one loves gifts and follows after rewards. They do not judge the fatherless, neither do they hear the cause of the widows. Remember them, O Lord our God, because we have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
When You see it, You abhor us, on account of the provoking of Your sons and daughters. You say, “I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very froward generation—children in whom is no faith.” We have moved You to jealousy with that which is not of You. We have provoked You to anger with our vanities, You will provoke us to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in Your anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. You will heap mischiefs upon us. We are burnt with hunger, devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction. You also send the teeth of beasts upon us, with the poison of serpents. The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. You said, “I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men.” Yet, You feared the wrath of the enemy and that they should say, “Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.” And now, behold, the peoples around us. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keeps Your covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem minor to You—all the trouble that has come upon us, our rulers, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and on all Your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to today. Notwithstanding You are just in all that You brought upon us; for You have done right, but we have done wickedly. Neither have our rulers, our leaders, our priests, nor our fathers, kept Your law, nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, which You testified against us. For we have not served You in our nation, and in Your great goodness that You gave us, and in the large and fat land which You gave to us, neither did we turn from our wicked ways. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that You gave to our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it. Now it yields its increase to the rulers You set over us because of our sins; they also have dominion over our bodies and our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
Look how they reward us, seeking to cast us out of Your possession, which You have given to us for our inheritance. O Lord our God, will You not judge them? For we have no might against those who come against us; neither do we know what to do. Our eyes are upon You. For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. To You belong vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things that shall come upon them make haste. For You, Lord, shall judge Your people, and remember Your servants, when You see that our power is gone, and none are left.
And You shall say, “Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me. I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal—neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand. For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live forever. If I sharpen My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to My enemies, and will reward them that hate Me. I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.”
You, Lord, have spoken, “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master’s crib, but Israel does not know, My people do not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children who are corrupters—they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward. Why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores—they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.” Except that You, Lord of hosts, had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah.
We have done all this wickedness, yet we will no longer turn aside from following You, Lord. We choose to serve You, Lord, with all our heart. We will not turn aside, for then we would go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver, because they are vain. For You, Lord, will not forsake Your people for Your great name’s sake, because it pleased You, Lord, to make us Your people. Therefore, we remember that You will avenge the blood of Your servants, and will render vengeance to Your adversaries, and will be merciful to Your land, and to Your people, who are called by Your name. We will fear You, Lord, and serve You in truth with all our heart; considering the great things You have done for us.
Do You, Lord, have as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to Your voice? We know that before You to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. We will no longer bring vain offerings which make the incense we offer an abomination to You. The new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, we cleanse of iniquity, even the solemn meetings, the new moons, and appointed feasts. When we spread forth our hands, do not hide Your eyes from us. Indeed, when we make many prayers, hear us. We wash and make ourselves clean. We put away the evil of our doings from Your sight. We cease to do evil. We learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” You said. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. I will remove My adversaries and avenge Me of My enemies. I will turn My hand to you, purely purge away your dross, and take away all your tin. I will restore your judges and your counselors as at the beginning. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”
We have sinned greatly in what we have done and now, we beseech You, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servants, for we have done very foolishly. Remember us, O Lord our God, concerning this also, and spare us according to the greatness of Your mercy.
Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, Who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart. We know that You can do everything, and that no thought can be hidden from You. You, Lord, shall judge the people. Judge us, O Lord, according to our righteousness and according to the integrity that is in us. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; for You, the righteous God, try the hearts and minds. Our defense is of You, Who saves the upright in heart. You judge the righteous and are angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, You will sharpen Your sword; You have bent Your bow, and made it ready. You have also prepared the instruments of death for the wicked; and ordained Your arrows against the persecutors. Behold, we travailed with iniquity, and conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. We made a pit, and digged it, and are fallen into the ditch which we made. Our mischief has returned upon our own heads, and our violent dealings have come down upon us.
You said, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
We cry aloud, sparing nothing, lifting up our voices like a trumpet, and to show Your people their transgressions and their sins. We seek You daily, and delight to know Your ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of our God, we ask of You the ordinances of justice; we delight in approaching You. In the day of our fast we do not find pleasure, nor perform all our labors. This is the fast which You have chosen: to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. It is to deal our bread to the hungry to bring the poor that are cast out into our houses. When we see the naked, we cover him.
Remember us, O Lord our God, concerning this, and do not wipe out our good deeds which we have done for the house of our God, and for the offices thereof.
O Lord God of our fathers, are You not the God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand You? Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of the land before Your people? And did we not dwell therein, and built a sanctuary therein for Your name, saying, “If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and in Your presence (for Your name is in this house), and cry unto You in our affliction, then You will hear and help.”
Be merciful to us, O God, be merciful to us, for our soul trusts in You. In the shadow of Your wings will we make our refuge, until these calamities are finished. We will cry to You, God most high; unto You Who performs all things for us. You will send from heaven and save us from the reproach of those who would swallow us up. You shall send forth Your mercy and Your truth. Our heart is fixed, O God, our heart is fixed.
You, Lord, have searched us and known us. You know our sitting and uprising, You understand our thoughts afar off. You compass our paths and our lying down, and are familiar with all of our ways. For there is not a word in our tongues, but You, O Lord, know it completely. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us; it is high, we cannot attain it. Where shall we go from Your spirit? or where shall we flee from Your presence? If we ascend up into heaven, You are there. If we make our bed in hell, behold, You are there. If we take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there Your shall hand lead us, and Your right hand shall hold us. If we say, Surely the darkness shall cover us; even the night shall be light about us. Truly, the darkness hides nothing from You, for the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are the same to You.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. We acknowledged our sin to You, and our iniquity we have not hid. We said, “We will confess our transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of our sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found. We will not be as the horse or mule, which have no understanding and whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but to us who trust in You Lord, mercy shall surround us.
O Lord God of Israel, Who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, even You alone, in all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down Your ear, and hear; open, Lord, Your eyes, and see, and hear the words sent to reproach You, the living God. Lord, be merciful to us; heal our souls, for we have sinned against You. Our enemies speak evil of us, they speak vanity, gathering iniquity to themselves, telling it when they go abroad. All that hate us whisper together against us, devising our hurt. “An evil disease,” they say, “clings to them and now they shall lie down and never get up again.” In truth, Lord, these words have destroyed nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire—for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore, they have destroyed them. Hear, O Lord our God; for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity. Cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before You. Now therefore, O Lord our God, we beseech You, save us out of their hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, even You alone. Lord, it is nothing to You to help, whether to the great or to those who have no power. Help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You.
O LORD our God, in You do we put our trust. Save us from all those who persecute us, and deliver us, lest they tear our soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. Surely You will slay the wicked, O God. Depart from us therefore, you bloody men. For they speak against You wickedly, and Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do we not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And are we not grieved with those who rise up against You? We hate them with perfect hatred, we count them our enemies. Search us, O God, and know our hearts. Try us, and know our thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting.
Then shall our light break forth as the morning, and our health shall spring forth speedily. Your righteousness shall go before us; the glory of the Lord shall be our rearward. Then shall we call, and You, Lord, shall answer. We shall cry, and You shall say, “Here I am.” If we take away the yoke from our midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking vanity, and if we draw out our soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall our light rise in the darkest hours, and our darkness shall be as the noonday. You, Lord, shall guide us continually, satisfy our soul in drought, and make fat our bones. We shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those who come from us shall build the old waste places. We shall raise up the foundations of many generations and we shall be called, “The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” We shall delight ourselves in You, Lord and You will cause us to ride upon the high places of the earth and feed us with the heritage of Jacob our father—for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
Verses used in this prayer:
Deuteronomy 26:5-9; 32:1-43; 1 Samuel 12:6-15; 12:20-22, 24-25; 15:22-23; 17:47; 2 Samuel 7:23-24; 24:10; 1 Kings 8:32; 2 Kings 19:15-19; 2 Chronicles 7:12-14; 14:11-12; 20:6-12; Nehemiah 4:4-5; 9:6-37; 13:14, 22, 29, 31; Job 42:2-6; Psalm 7; 16:1-4; 32; 41:4-13; 57; 139; Isaiah 1; 58-59; Daniel 9:4-19
Living Energeia 