Conclusion Service for the Day of Atonement

The Standard Prayer Book, tr. by Simeon Singer, [1915], at sacred-texts.com

CONCLUSION SERVICE FOR THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

"Happy are they," etc., "And a redeemer," etc., and "Kaddish" pp 250–254.

O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

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 seal 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 great mercy, supportest the falling, healest the sick, loosest

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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 beings 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.

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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 brought us near unto thy service, O our King, and hast called us by thy great and holy name.

On Sabbath add the words in brackets.

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.

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Our God and God of our fathers! May our remembrance rise and come and be accepted before thee, with the remembrance of our fathers, of Messiah the son of David thy servant, of Jerusalem thy holy city, and of all thy people the house of Israel, bringing deliverance and well-being, grace, lovingkindness and mercy, life and peace on this Day of Atonement. Remember us, O Lord our God, thereon for our wellbeing; be mindful of us for blessing, and save us unto life: by thy promise of salvation and mercy, spare us and be gracious unto us; have mercy upon us and save us; for our eyes are bent upon thee, because thou art a gracious and merciful God and King.

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

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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 our lives, the Shield of our salvation

Congregation in an undertone

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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.

O seal all the children of thy covenant for a happy life.

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:—

Our God and God of our fathers, bless us with the

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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 sealed 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.

Our God and God of our fathers

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.

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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 givest a hand to transgressors, and thy right hand is stretched out to receive the penitent; thou hast taught us, O Lord our God, to make confession unto thee of all our sins, in order that we may cease from the violence of our hands, that thou mayest receive us into thy presence in perfect repentance, even as fire offerings and sweet savors, for thy words’ sake which thou hast spoken. Endless would be the fire offerings required for our guilt, and numberless the sweet savors for our trespasses; but thou knowest that our latter end is the worm, and hast therefore multiplied the

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means of our forgiveness. What are we? What is our life? What is our piety? What our righteousness; What our helpfulness? What our strength? What our might? What shall we say before thee, O Lord our God and God of our fathers? Are not all the mighty men as nought before thee, the men of renown as though they had not been, the wise as if without knowledge, and the men of understanding as if with. out discernment? For most of their works are void, and the days of their lives are vanity before thee, and the pre-eminence of man over the beast is nought, for all is vanity.

Thou hast distinguished man from the beginning, and hast recognized his privilege that he might stand before thee; far who shall say unto thee, What doest thou? and if he be righteous what can he give thee? But thou of thy love hast given us, O Lord our God [this Sabbath day and] this Day of Atonement to be the end of, as well as the season of pardon and forgiveness for, all our iniquities, that we may cease from the violence of our hands, and may return unto thee to do the statutes of thy will with a perfect heart. O do thou, in thy abounding compassion, have mercy upon us, for thou delightest not in the destruction of the world, as it is said, Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. And it is said, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. But thou art a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow

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to anger, plenteous in lovingkindness, and abounding in goodness; thou delightest in the repentance of the wicked, and hast no pleasure in their death; as it is said, Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? And it is said, Have I at all any pleasure in the death of the wicked, saith the Lord God, and not rather that he should return from his way, and live? And it is said, For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves and live. For thou art the pardoner of Israel and the forgiver 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. 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.

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[paragraph continues] 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.

"Our Father, our King," pp. 67–70, is said after the Amidoth of the Evening, Morning, and Conclusion Services. On Sabbath this prayer is said only after the Conclusion Service.

The Reader says the following verse, the Congregation repeating it:—

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

The Reader and Congregation say the following three times:—

Blessed be His name, whose glorious Kingdom is for ever and ever.

The Reader and Congregation say the following seven times:—

The Lord, he is God.

The Shofar is sounded.