וְיֶאֱתָֽיוּ כֹּל לְעָבְדֶּֽךָ | v-Yèə̀tayu Kōl l’Avdèkha (All the world shall come to serve Thee), an early piyyuṭ with rhymed English translation by Israel Zangwill

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Israel Zangwill (translation) and Unknown

Shared on:

9 April 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Crowning, Late Antiquity, פיוטים piyyuṭim, rhyming translation

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
וְיֶאֱתָֽיוּ כֹּל לְעָבְדֶּֽךָ וִיבָרְכוּ שֵׁם כְּבוֹדֶֽךָ וְיַגִּֽידוּ בָאִיִּים צִדְקֶךָ׃	All the world shall come to serve Thee And bless Thy glorious Name, And Thy righteousness triumphant The islands shall acclaim.
וְיִדְרְשֽׁוּךָ עַמִּים לֹא יְדָעֽוּךָ וִיהַלְלֽוּךָ כׇּל אַפְסֵי אָֽרֶץ וְיוֹאמְרוּ תָמִיד יִגְדַּל יְיָ׃	And the peoples shall go seeking Who knew Thee not before, And the ends of earth shall praise Thee, And tell Thy greatness o’er.
וְיִזְבְּחוּ לְךָ אֶת זִבְחֵיהֶם וְיִזְנְחוּ אֶת עֲצַבֵּיהֶם וְיַחְפְּרוּ עִם פְּסִילֵיהֶם׃ וְיַטּוּ שְׁכֶם אֶחָד לְעָבְדֶֽךָ	They shall build for Thee their altars, Their idols overthrown, And their graven gods shall shame them, As they turn to Thee alone.
וְיִירָאֽוּךָ עִם שֶֽׁמֶשׁ מְבַקְשֵׁי פָנֶֽיךָ וְיַכִּֽירוּ כֹּֽחַ מַלְכוּתֶֽךָ וְיִלְמְדוּ תוֹעִים בִּינָה׃	They shall worship Thee at sunrise, And feel Thy Kingdom’s might, And impart their understanding To those astray in night.
וִימַלְּלוּ אֶת גְּבוּרָתֶֽךָ וִינַשְּׂאֽוּךָ מִתְנַשֵּׂא לְכֹל לְרֹאשׁ	They shall testify Thy greatness, And of Thy power speak, And extol Thee, shrined, uplifted Beyond man’s highest peak.
וִיסַלְּדוּ בְחִילָה פָּנֶֽיךָ וִיעַטְּרֽוּךָ נֶֽזֶר תִּפְאָרָה׃	And with reverential homage, Of love and wonder born, With the ruler’s crown of beauty Thy head they shall adorn.
וְיִפְצְחוּ הָרִים רִנָּה וְיִצְהֲלוּ אִיִּים בְּמָלְכֶֽךָ וִיקַבְּלוּ עֹל מַלְכוּתְךָ עֲלֵיהֶם וִירוֹמֲמֽוּךָ בִּקְהַל עָם׃	With the coming of Thy Kingdom The hills shall break into song, And the islands laugh exultant That they to God belong.
וְיִשְׁמְעוּ רְחוֹקִים וְיָבֽוֹאוּ וְיִתְּנוּ לְךָ כֶּֽתֶר מְלוּכָה׃	And all their congregations So loud Thy praise shall sing, That the uttermost peoples, hearing, Shall hail Thee crownèd King.

This is the early alef-betical acrostic piyyut, “v-Yèə̀tayu Kol l’Avdèkha,” as paraphrased in rhymed English verse by Israel Zangwill in Arthur Davis and Herbert Adler’s Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim vol. 2 (1904), pp. 154-155.

Source(s)

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Israel Zangwill (translation)

Israel Zangwill (1864–1926), born in Whitechapel, London, was a British author at the forefront of cultural Zionism during the 19th century, and was a close associate of Theodor Herzl. He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the prime thinker behind the territorial movement

Unknown

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Associated Image:

Three laurel wreaths and three crowns. (Simon Fokke, Noord-Nederlands 1712–1784) in the collection of the Rijksmuseum

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)