Judge of the earth, who wilt arraign The nations at thy judgment seat, With life and favor bless again Thy people prostrate at thy feet. And mayest Thou our morning prayer Receive, O Lord, as though it were The offering that was wont to be Brought day by day continually. Thou who art clothed with righteousness, Supreme, exalted over all-- How oft soever we transgress, Do Thou with pardoning love recall Those who in Hebron sleep: and let Their memory live before Thee yet, Even as the offering unto Thee Offered of old continually. O Thou, whose mercy faileth not, To us Thy heavenly grace accord; Deal kindly with Thy people’s lot, And grant them life, our King and Lord. Let Thou the mark of life appear Upon their brow from year to year, As when were daily wont to be The offerings brought continually. Restore to Zion once again Thy favor and the ancient might And glory of her sacred fane, And let the son of Jesse’s light Be set on high, to shine always, Far shedding its perpetual rays, Even as of old were wont to be The offerings brought continually. Trust in God’s strength, and be ye strong, My people, and His law obey, Then will He pardon sin and wrong, Then mercy will his wrath outweigh; Seek ye His presence, and implore His countenance for evermore. Then shall your prayers accepted be As offerings brought continually. When this is sung or declaimed to the appropriate melody (on which the Rev. F. L. Cohen has much of interest to say in the _Jewish Encyclopedia_, xi, 306), the solemn effect of words and music is profound. The refrain (from Numbers 28. 23), recalls the close association which, even while the sanctuary stood, subsisted between temple sacrifices and synagogue prayers. Since the loss of the shrine, prayer has fulfilled the double function. There are only one or two phrases that need elucidation. In the second stanza the words “Those who in Hebron sleep” refer to those of the patriarchs who were buried in Hebron, in the cave of Machpelah. The appeal is made to the merits of the fathers, a subject on which the reader will do well to consult the Rev. S. Levy’s essay in his volume entitled “Original Virtue.” In the third stanza occurs the phrase “mark of life.” This is derived from the ninth chapter of Ezekiel--those bearing the “mark” are, in the prophet’s vision, to live amid the general destruction. Life--the merciful verdict of the Judge, quite as much as the judgment itself--is the note of the New Year liturgy. This poem strikes both notes with undeniable power. ISAAC’S LAMP AND JACOB’S WELL