O LORD Almighty, the God of our fathers Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and of their righteous seed;
that hast made the heaven and the earth with all their adornment;
that hast bound the sea with the word of thy commandment; that
hast closed the abyss and sealed it with thy fearful and glorious
name;
whom all things revere and tremble before the face of thy power,
because the magnificence of thy glory is unendurable and irresistible
the wrath of thy threatening against sinners:
the mercy of thy promise is both immeasurable and inscrutable;
for thou art the Lord most high, compassionate, longsuffering,
and most merciful, repenting of the evils of men. Thou, Lord,
according to the abundance of thy goodness, hast proclaimed repentance
and forgiveness to those that have sinned against thee, and in
the multitude of thy kindnesses thou hast decreed for sinners
repentance unto salvation.
Surely thou, O Lord, the God of the just, hast not appointed repentance
for the just, for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who have not sinned
against thee; but thou hast appointed repentance for me a sinner:
for I have sinned above the number of the sand of the sea. My
transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied, and
I am not worthy to look at or see the height of heaven, for the
multitude of my iniquities,
being bowed down by many iron bonds, so that I cannot uplift my
head, and there is no release for me, because I have provoked
thy anger, and have done evil before thee, not doing thy will,
nor keeping thy commandments, but setting up abominations and
multiplying offences.
Now therefore I bow the
knee of my heart, beseeching thee grace:
I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge my transgressions:
but I pray and beseech thee, release me, Lord, release me, and
destroy me not with my transgressions; keep not evils for me in
anger for ever, nor condemn me to the lowest parts of the earth:
because thou art God, the God of the repenting; and in me thou
wilt shew all thy benevolence, for that me unworthy thou wilt
save, according to thy great mercy:
and I will praise thee continually all the days of my life: for
all the hosts of the heavens sings to thee, and thine is the glory
for ever and ever. Amen.