שֹׁפֵט כׇּל הָאָֽרֶץ | Shofeṭ kol ha-Arets (“Thou Judge of all the earth”), a piyyuṭ by Shlomo ben Abun (ca. late 12th c.) in rhyming English translation by Nina Salaman (1904)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Nina Davis Salaman (translation) and Shlomo ben Abun

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11 January 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Tags:

12th century C.E., 49th century A.M., פיוטים piyyuṭim, פזמונים pizmonim, תשובה teshuvah

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
שֹׁפֵט כׇּל הָאָֽרֶץ וְאוֹתָהּ בְּמִשְׁפָּט יַעֲמִיד נָא חַיִּים וָחֶֽסֶד עַל עַם עָנִי תַצְמִיד אֶת תְּפִלַּת הַשַּֽׁחַר בִּמְקוֹם עֹלָה תַעֲמִיד כְּעֹלַת הַבֹּֽקֶר אֲשֶׁר לְעֹלַת הַתָּמִיד׃	Thou Judge of all the earth, Making the world stand firm by right, I pray to Thee, give life and pity Unto this people humble in Thy sight; And set the prayer at morning light In place of sacrifice — Even the morning offering, the gift of every morn.
לוֹבֵשׁ צְדָקָה וּמַעֲטֶה לְךָ לְבַד הַיִּתְרוֹן אִם אֵין בָּֽנוּ מַעֲשִׂים זָכְרָה יְשֵׁנֵי חֶבְרוֹן וְהֵם יַעֲלוּ לְזִכָּרוֹן לִפְנֵי יְיָ תָּמִיד כְּעֹלַת הַבֹּֽקֶר אֲשֶׁר לְעֹלַת הַתָּמִיד׃	Thou clothed in outspread justice, Sole majesty is in Thine hand; If we have no good works, remember Those that at Ḥeḇron sleep in their own land; Their memory shall rise and stand Before the Lord for ever — Even like morning offering, the gift of every morn.
מַטֵּה כְּלַפֵּי חֶֽסֶד לְהַטּוֹת אִישׁ לִתְחִיָּה עַמְּךָ לְחֶֽסֶד הַטֵּה גְּמוֹל נָא עָלָיו וְחָיָה כְּתֹב תָּו חַיִּים וְהָיָה עַל מִצְחוֹ תָּמִיד כְּעֹלַת הַבֹּֽקֶר אֲשֶׁר לְעֹלַת הַתָּמִיד׃	Thou who bestowest mercy To lead man to new life, decree That these Thy people gain compassion, And let them live, full of the good from Thee. Inscribe the seal of life, to be Upon their brow for ever, As when the morning offering was given every morn.
הֵיטִֽיבָה בִרְצוֹנְךָ אֶת צִיּוֹן עִיר קְדוֹשַׁי וְנָתַתָּ יָד וָשֵׁם בְּבֵיתְךָ לִמְקֻדָּשַׁי וַעֲרִֽיכַת נֵר לְבֶן יִשַׁי לְהַעֲלוֹת נֵר תָּמִיד כְּעֹלַת הַבֹּֽקֶר אֲשֶׁר לְעֹלַת הַתָּמִיד׃	Do good, in Thine own pleasure, O Lord, to Ẓíōn mine holy one; And give unto my sacred people A place and name within Thy dwelling won. And give new light to Yishai’s son To light his lamp for ever — Even like morning offering, the gift of every morn.
חִזְקוּ וְאַמְצוּ לְבַבְכֶם עַמִּי בָּאֵל מָעֻזּוֹ וְעֵדֹתָיו כִּי תִנְצֹֽרוּ גַּם אֶת זוֹ לְעֻמַּת זוֹ יְכַפֵּר בְּעַד חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם וְיִזְכֹּר רַחֵם בְּרֹגְזוֹ דִּרְשׁוּ יְיָ וְעֻזּוֹ בַּקְּשׁוּ פָנָיו תָּמִיד כְּעֹלַת הַבֹּֽקֶר אֲשֶׁר לְעֹלַת הַתָּמִיד׃	Make strong your hearts, my people, In God your strength; take courage true — For if indeed ye keep His statutes, He, setting love against this thing ye do, Will pardon your transgressions, Remembering in His wrath to pity you. O seek the Lord, seek ye His strength anew, Seek ye His face for ever — As with the morning offering, the gift of every morn.

This is the piyyuṭ for Yom Kippur known by its incipit שופט כל הארץ “Shofeṭ kol ha-Arets” (“Thou Judge of all the earth”) by the late 12th century payṭan, Shlomo ben Abun of France, as adapted in the form of a rhyming translation by Nina Salaman for Maḥzor Avodat Ohel Moed: Avodat Yom haKippurim vol. 2, arranged and translated by Arthur Davis & Herbert Adler (1904), p. 86. I have re-Hebraized the name “Jesse” to “Yishai.” –Aharon Varady

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.)

Nina Davis Salaman (translation)

Paulina Ruth "Nina" Salaman (née Davis) (פָּאוּלִינָה רוּת ”נִינָה” דֵעוִיס שָׂלָמָן‏; 1877 – ‎1925) was a British Jewish poet, translator, and social activist. She is best known for her English translations of medieval Hebrew poetry, especially of the poems of Judah Halevi. Paulina Ruth Davis was born on 15 July 1877 at Friarfield House, Derby, the second of two children of Louisa (née Jonas) and Arthur Davis. Her father's family were secular Jewish precision instrument makers, who had immigrated to England from Bavaria in the early nineteenth century. A civil engineer by trade, Arthur Davis became religiously observant and mastered the Hebrew language, becoming an accomplished Hebraist noted for his study of cantillation marks in the Tanakh. The family moved to Kilburn, London when Nina was six weeks old, later settling in Bayswater. There, Davis gave his daughters an intensive scholarly education in Hebrew and Jewish studies, teaching them himself each morning before breakfast from the age of four, and taking them regularly to the synagogue. The Davis's moved in learned Jewish circles, and friends of Nina's parents included the families of Nathan Adler, Simeon Singer, Claude Montefiore, Solomon Schechter, Herbert Bentwich, and Elkan Adler. Arthur Davis was one of the "Kilburn Wanderers"—a group of Anglo-Jewish intellectuals that formed around Solomon Schechter in the 1880s—members of which took an interest in Nina's work and helped her find publication for her writings. Her older sister, Elsie Davis, also translated liturgical works.

Shlomo ben Abun

Shlomo ben Abun (also, Abin; fl. late 12th century) was a paytan in northern France, and was likely a physician of the same name who wrote medical treatises. If you know more about Shlomo ben Abun, place contact us.

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Political Globe (1938) by Eugeniusz Romer, in the collection of the National Library of Lublin

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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)