Aleinu: The Closing Prayer
Netivyah International
Aleinu (Hebrew for "it is our duty") is the prayer that closes Jewish services. It praises God as Creator and King, gives thanks for the calling He gave Israel, and looks ahead to the day every nation will know Him. It ends with the words of Zechariah 14:9. The full prayer is below in Hebrew, in transliteration for reading aloud, and in English, followed by a walk through what it says.
Where Aleinu comes from
Since the twelfth or thirteenth century it has been the custom to end every service with Aleinu. That means morning, afternoon and evening, every day of the year. Before that, it had a narrower home.
Jewish tradition credits the prayer to Rav, a sage who taught in Babylon in the third century. In that tradition Aleinu opens the Malchuyot, the "Kingship" verses of the Rosh Hashanah additional service. On the day Israel proclaims God as King, this prayer leads the way. Some scholars have suggested its language is older still, perhaps reaching back toward the Second Temple period, but that cannot be proven. What we can say is that the text was later moved to the end of every service, and it has stayed there.
Aleinu is said standing. At the words "we bow, and kneel, and give thanks" the custom is to bend the knees, bow from the waist, and straighten up again before "the King of kings."
How to read the text below
The prayer has two paragraphs. The first begins Aleinu l'shabe'ach. The second begins Al kein n'kaveh lecha ("Therefore we place our hope in You"), and in the texts below it is set inside parentheses. Both paragraphs close with a verse of Scripture, and the whole prayer ends with Zechariah. You are welcome to print this page and keep it with your Bible.
Aleinu Prayer in Hebrew
עָלֵֽינוּ לְשַׁבֵּֽחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל
לָתֵת גְּדֻלָּה לְיוֹצֵר בְּרֵאשִׁית
שֶׁלֺּא עָשָֽׂנוּ כְּגוֹיֵי הָאֲרָצוֹת
וְלֺא שָׂמָֽנוּ כְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹת הָאֲדָמָה
שֶׁלֺּא שָׂם חֶלְקֵֽנוּ כָּהֶם
וְגוֹרָלֵֽנוּ כְּכָל הֲמוֹנָם
וַאֲנַֽחְנוּ כּוֹרְעִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים
וּמוֹדִים לִפְנֵי מֶֽלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים
הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא
שֶׁהוּא נוֹטֶה שָׁמַֽיִם וְיוֹסֵד אָֽרֶץ
וּמוֹשַׁב יְקָרוֹ בַּשָּׁמַֽיִם מִמַּֽעַל
וּשְׁכִינַת עֻזּוֹ בְּגָבְהֵי מְרוֹמִים
הוּא אֱלֺהֵֽינוּ, אֵין עוֹד
אֱמֶת מַלְכֵּֽנוּ, אֶֽפֶס זוּלָתוֹ
כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרָתוֹ
וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶֽךָ
כִּי ה' הוּא הָאֱלֺהִים
בַּשָּׁמַֽיִם מִמַּֽעַל וְעַל הָאָֽרֶץ מִתָּֽחַת, אֵין עוֹד
עַל כֵּן נְקַוֶּה לְּךָ ה' אֱלהֵינוּ)
לִרְאוֹת מְהֵרָה בְּתִפְאֶרֶת עֻזֶּךָ
לְהַעֲבִיר גִּלּוּלִים מִן הָאָרֶץ
וְהָאֱלִילִים כָּרוֹת יִכָּרֵתוּן
לְתַקֵּן עוֹלָם בְּמַלְכוּת שַׁדַּי
וְכָל בְּנֵי בָשָׂר יִקְרְאוּ בִשְׁמֶךָ
לְהַפְנוֹת אֵלֶיךָ כָּל רִשְׁעֵי אָרֶץ
יַכִּירוּ וְיֵדְעוּ כָּל יוֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵל
כִּי לְךָ תִּכְרַע כָּל בֶּרֶךְ
תִּשָּׁבַע כָּל לָשׁון
לְפָנֶיךָ ה' אֱלהֵינוּ
יִכְרְעוּ וְיִפּלוּ
וְלִכְבוֹד שִׁמְךָ יְקָר יִתֵּנוּ
וִיקַבְּלוּ כֻלָּם אֶת עֹל מַלְכוּתֶךָ
וְתִמְלךְ עֲלֵיהֶם מְהֵרָה לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
כִּי הַמַּלְכוּת שֶׁלְּךָ הִיא
וּלְעוֹלְמֵי עַד תִּמְלךְ בְּכָבוֹד
כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרָתֶךָ
(ה' יִמְלךְ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
וְנֶאֱמַר
וְהָיָה ה' לְמֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ
בַּיּום הַהוּא יִהְיֶה ה' אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד
Aleinu Transliteration
Aleinu l’shabe’ach la’Adon hakol,
lateit gedulah l’yotzer beresheet,
she’lo asanu k’goyei ha’aratzot,
v’lo samanu k’mishpechot ha’adamah,
she’lo sam chelkeinu kahem,
v’goraleinu kechol hamonam.
Va’anachnu korim, u’mishtachavim,
u’modim lifnei Melech malchei ham’lachim,
haKadosh, Baruch Hu,
sheHu noteh shamayim v’yoseid aretz,
u’moshav yekaro bashamayim mima’al,
u’shechinat uzo b’govhei meromim.
Hu Eloheinu, ein od.
Emet Malkeinu, efes zulato.
Kakatuv b’torato:
“V’yadata hayom va’hasheivota el levavecha,
ki Adonai hu HaElohim
bashamayim mima’al v’al ha’aretz mitachat, ein od.”
(Al kein n’kaveh lecha, Adonai Eloheinu,
lir’ot meheirah b’tiferet uzecha,
l’ha’avir gilulim min ha’aretz,
v’ha’elilim karot yikareitun,
l’taken olam b’malchut Shaddai.
V’chol b’nei basar yikre’u vishmecha,
l’hafnot eilecha kol rishei aretz.
Yakir’u v’yed’u kol yoshvei tevel,
ki lecha tichra kol berech,
tishava kol lashon.
L’fanecha, Adonai Eloheinu,
yichre’u v’yipolu,
ul’chvod shimcha yakar yiteinu.
V’yakab’lu chulam et ol malchutecha,
v’timloch aleihem meherah l’olam va’ed.
Ki hamalchut shelcha hee,
u’le’olmei ad timloch b’chavod,
kakatuv b’toratecha:
“Adonai yimloch l’olam va’ed.”)
V’ne’emar:
“V’hayah Adonai l’Melech al kol ha’aretz, bayom hahu yihyeh Adonai echad u’shemo echad.”
Aleinu Prayer in English
It is our duty to praise the Master of all,
to ascribe greatness to the Creator of the beginning,
who has not made us like the nations of the lands,
and has not placed us like the families of the earth;
who has not assigned our portion as theirs,
nor our lot like all their multitudes.
But we bow, and kneel, and give thanks
before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He,
who stretches out the heavens and establishes the earth,
whose glorious throne is in the heavens above
and whose powerful Presence dwells in the highest heights.
He is our God, there is none else.
True is our King, there is nothing besides Him,
as it is written in His Torah:
“And you shall know this day and take it to heart
that the Lord is God in the heavens above
and on the earth below, there is none else.”
(Therefore, we place our hope in You, Lord our God,
to soon see the glory of Your strength,
to remove idols from the earth,
and utterly cut off all false gods, to perfect the world under the reign of the Almighty.
Then all flesh will call upon Your name,
to turn all the earth’s wicked toward You.
All the inhabitants of the world will recognize and know
that every knee shall bow to You,
and every tongue shall swear.
Before You, Lord our God, they will bow and fall,
and to the honor of Your glorious name they will give praise.
They will all accept the yoke of Your kingship,
and You will reign over them soon and forever and ever.
For the kingship is Yours,
and You will reign in glory forever and ever,
as it is written in Your Torah:
“The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”)
And it is said:
“The Lord will be King over all the earth.
On that day, the Lord shall be One and His name One.”
The first paragraph: a people given a task
Aleinu opens with obligation, not request. It is our duty to praise. The one praised is named twice in the first two lines, as Master of everything and as the One who made the beginning. Before Israel says anything about itself, it says who God is.
Then comes the line people notice: He "has not made us like the nations of the lands." Read in context, this is thanksgiving for a calling, not a boast. Israel was given the knowledge of the one God and a portion with Him (Deuteronomy 32:9 calls Jacob "the lot of His inheritance"). That is a weight to carry as much as a gift to enjoy.
The bow follows, and it matters that the body gets involved. As with the bows of the Amida, you do not only say you submit to the King. You bend.
The paragraph closes on Deuteronomy 4:39: "the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is none else." Ein od, none else. Those two Hebrew words carry the whole first half.
The second paragraph: hope for every nation
Now the prayer turns outward. Having confessed that God alone is God, Israel asks Him to show it to the whole world. Remove the idols. Cut off the false gods. And then the line many readers know without realizing where it comes from: l'taken olam b'malchut Shaddai, "to perfect the world under the reign of the Almighty."
Today "tikkun olam" is often used for social action or charity. In Aleinu the repair is specific. The world is set right when it comes under God's kingship.
Watch what the prayer asks for the wicked. It does not only ask that they be removed. It asks God "to turn all the earth's wicked toward You." The hope is repentance. Then comes Isaiah 45:23 ("every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear"), then Exodus 15:18, the song at the sea ("The Lord shall reign forever and ever"). The prayer ends with Zechariah 14:9. One King, one Name, over all the earth.
What Yeshua's first disciples would recognize
We should be honest here. Aleinu as written is almost certainly later than the first century, and nobody in the Gospels recites it. But nearly every idea in it is Scripture that Yeshua (Jesus) and the apostles prayed and preached.
When a scribe asked Yeshua which commandment is first, Yeshua answered with the Shema. The scribe replied, "he is one, and there is no other besides him" (Mark 12:32). That is ein od on a first-century tongue, a generation before the Temple fell.
The prayer Yeshua taught His disciples moves in the same direction as Aleinu: "Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10). Both ask for God's name to be honored and His reign to reach the earth.
Paul reaches for the same verse Aleinu does. Isaiah 45:23 stands behind Philippians 2:10-11, where every knee bows at the name of Yeshua "to the glory of God the Father." He quotes the verse again in Romans 14:11. And when Paul describes Gentiles in Thessalonica who "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9), he is describing, in small, the very thing the second paragraph of Aleinu prays for. The early believers in Yeshua saw the nations' turning as a sign that the promise had begun.
Revelation 11:15 even echoes the song at the sea: "he shall reign forever and ever."
Praying Aleinu at home
You do not need a synagogue for this prayer. It works well at the end of your own time in Scripture, at a small group, or after the meal on Erev Shabbat.
A simple way to start:
- Stand when you begin, as is the custom.
- Read the first paragraph aloud, in English or with the transliteration. At "we bow, and kneel, and give thanks," bend your knees and bow, then straighten.
- Read the second paragraph slowly. When you reach "turn all the earth's wicked toward You," name a person or a place you are asking God to turn.
- Say the last line together: "On that day, the Lord shall be One and His name One."
If you have children, teach them the two words ein od first. Ask them what it means that there is no one else like God, and then let the rest of the prayer grow around that.
This week, read Zechariah 14 and Isaiah 45 alongside Philippians 2. Then ask yourself whose knee you are praying will bow, and whether yours already has.
Questions people ask
What does Aleinu mean?
Aleinu means "it is our duty" (literally "upon us"), taken from the prayer's opening words, "It is our duty to praise the Master of all." The prayer praises God as Creator and King and looks forward to the day all nations acknowledge Him, ending with Zechariah 14:9.
When is the Aleinu prayer said?
Since about the twelfth or thirteenth century, Aleinu has closed every Jewish prayer service, morning, afternoon and evening. It also appears in the Rosh Hashanah additional service, where tradition says it began. It is said standing, with a bow at the words "we bow, and kneel, and give thanks."
Where can I find the Aleinu prayer in English and transliteration?
The full Aleinu appears on this page in Hebrew, in a line-by-line transliteration for reading aloud, and in English translation. The section in parentheses is the second paragraph, which begins "Therefore, we place our hope in You."
Who wrote the Aleinu prayer?
Jewish tradition attributes Aleinu to Rav, a third-century sage in Babylon, who placed it in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy. Some scholars suggest parts of it may be older, but that is uncertain. Its key lines quote Deuteronomy 4:39, Isaiah 45:23, Exodus 15:18 and Zechariah 14:9.
Is the Aleinu prayer in the Bible?
Aleinu is not a passage of the Bible, but it is built from Scripture. It quotes Deuteronomy 4:39, Exodus 15:18 and Zechariah 14:9, and echoes Isaiah 45:23, a verse Paul also uses in Philippians 2:10-11 and Romans 14:11.