The festival prayers of Qumran — preserved across four manuscripts from Cave 1 (1Q34) and Cave 4 (4Q507–509) — form the liturgical companion to the Daily Prayers (4Q503) and the Words of the Luminaries (4Q504–506). Where those texts organize prayer by day and by week, these prayers move through the annual festival calendar: the Day of Atonement, Passover, and the harvest feasts of the sectarian year. The best-preserved section is 1Q34 Fragment 2, a penitential community prayer of confession and supplication. 4Q508 Fragment 2 preserves Day of Atonement atonement language drawn directly from Leviticus 16:30. 4Q509 contains probable Passover and Festival of Booths material. Nearly all fragments are heavily damaged; lacunae are marked throughout with [...]. This translation works from the Hebrew transcription of Milík (DJD I, 1955) and Baillet (DJD VII, 1982).
1Q34 — Festival Prayers
Fragment 2
[...] Give ear, O God of knowledge, to the voice of our prayer and attend to the supplication of your servants.
We have acted perversely. We have transgressed your covenant. We have not walked in your commandments. But you are righteous, O LORD, and all your ways are justice. We have set our eyes on your mercy. [...]
For your name's sake, O LORD, do not abandon us. Turn away your wrath from your people Israel and remember the covenant of our ancestors — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — whom you chose from all peoples and gave them and their seed after them a land flowing with milk and honey as an inheritance forever.
[...] and we will praise your name forever and ever.
4Q507 — Festival Prayers^a
Fragment 1
[...] ho[ly] [...] eter[nal] [...] the congregation of your pe[ople] [...] before your f[ace] [...]
Fragment 2
[...] lig[ht] [...] in all your appointed ti[mes] [...] your holy on[es] [...]
4Q508 — Festival Prayers^b
Fragment 2 — Day of Atonement
[...] the appointed time of atonement [...] the day of fasting [...] to atone for all our iniquities [...]
For on this day he shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you. From all your sins before the LORD you shall be clean. It is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy assembly.
[...] your steadfast love [...] the lot of your tr[uth] [...] the children of your cov[enant] [...] holy angels [...] your glory.
Fragments 3–4
[...] a pleasing aroma before you [...] forgive us our iniquities [...] do not remember against us the sins of our ancestors [...] great and holy is your name [...]
4Q509 — Festival Prayers^c
Fragments 97–98, Column i — Passover
[...] the appointed time of Passover [...] and you brought us out from the land of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm [...] signs and wonders before Pharaoh [...]
Remember for us the covenant of our ancestors — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — whom you chose from all peoples and gave them your Torah of truth [...] and their seed after them for all generations.
[...] bless your people Israel [...] the peace of your covenant [...]
Fragment 3
[...] ho[ly] to you [...] the appointed times of [your] glo[ry] [...] and we will prais[e you] [...]
Fragments 131–132 — Festival of Booths
[...] the feast of booths [...] when you gathered in [the harvest] [...] and you blessed us [...] the produce of the land [...] in joy and in gladness [...]
Colophon
Translated from the Hebrew of four overlapping Qumran manuscripts: 1Q34 (Milík, DJD I, Oxford: Clarendon, 1955) and 4Q507–509 (Baillet, DJD VII, Oxford: Clarendon, 1982). The festival prayers form the annual liturgical complement to the Daily Prayers (4Q503) and the Words of the Luminaries (4Q504–506). The atonement declaration in 4Q508 Fragment 2 draws on Leviticus 16:30 near-verbatim. Nearly all manuscripts are highly lacunose; lacunae are marked with [...] throughout. Translated from the Hebrew by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text
1Q34 — פסקות מועד
Fragment 2
[...] הַאֲזִינָה אֱלֹהֵי [דַּעַת לְקוֹל תְּפִלָּתֵנוּ ...]
[...] הֶעֱוִינוּ פָּשַׁעְנוּ בִּבְרִיתֶ[ךָ לֹא הָלַכְנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתֶיךָ] כִּי צַדִּיק אַתָּה [וְכֹל דְּרָכֶיךָ מִשְׁפָּט עֵינֵינוּ לְחַסְדֶּךָ ...]
[...] לְמַעַן שִׁמְךָ [יְהוָה אַל תַּעַזְבֵנוּ הָשֵׁב חֲרוֹן אַפְּךָ מֵעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל וּזְכֹר בְּרִית אֲבוֹתֵינוּ] אַבְרָהָם [יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב ...] אֶרֶץ זָבַ[ת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ לְנַחֲלָה לָעוֹלָמִים ...]
[...] וּנְהַלֵּל שִׁמְךָ לְ[עוֹלָם וָעֶד ...]
4Q507 — פסקות מועד א
Fragment 1
[...] ק[וֹד]שׁ [...] עוֹלָ[ם ...] עֲדַת עַמְּ[ךָ ...] לְפָנֶ[יךָ ...]
Fragment 2
[...] אוֹ[ר ...] בְּכֹל מוֹעֲדֶ[יךָ ...] קְדוֹשֶׁ[יךָ ...]
4Q508 — פסקות מועד ב
Fragment 2
[...] מוֹעַד הַכִּפֻּרִ[ים ...] יוֹם הַצּוֹ[ם ...] לְכַפֵּר עַל כָּל עֲוֹנוֹתֵינוּ [...]
כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם לְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם מִכֹּל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם לִפְנֵי יְהוָה תִּטְהָרוּ שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן הִיא לָכֶם מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ
[...] חַסְדֶּ[ךָ ...] גּוֹרַל אֲמִתְּ[ךָ ...] בְּנֵי בְרִיתֶ[ךָ ...] מַלְאֲכֵי קֹדֶ[שׁ ...] כְּבוֹדֶ[ךָ ...]
Fragments 3–4
[...] רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ לְפָנֶ[יךָ ...] סְלַח לָנוּ עֲוֹנוֹ[תֵינוּ ...] אַל תִּזְכֹּר לָנוּ עֲוֹנוֹת אֲבוֹ[תֵינוּ ...] גָּדוֹל וְקָדוֹשׁ שִׁמְ[ךָ ...]
4Q509 — פסקות מועד ג
Fragments 97–98, Column i
[...] מוֹעַד הַפֶּסַ[ח ...] וַתּוֹצִיאֵנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָ[ה ...] אֹתוֹת וּמוֹפְתִ[ים לִפְנֵי פַרְעֹה ...]
[...] זְכֹר לָנוּ בְּרִית אֲבוֹתֵ[ינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב ...] תּוֹרַת אֱ[מֶת ...] וְזַרְעָם אַחֲרֵיהֶם לְכֹל הַ[דּוֹרוֹת ...]
[...] בָּרֵ[ךְ] אֶת עַמְּ[ךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל ...] שְׁלוֹם בְּרִי[תֶךָ ...]
Fragment 3
[...] קָד[וֹשׁ] לְ[ךָ ...] מוֹעֲדֵ[י כְבוֹדֶ]ךָ [...] וּנְהַלֵּ[ל ...]
Fragments 131–132
[...] חַג הַסֻּכּוֹ[ת ...] בְּאָסְפְּ[ךָ ...] וּבֵרַכְתָּ[נוּ ...] תְּבוּאַ[ת הָאָרֶץ ...] בְּשִׂמְחָ[ה ...]
Source Colophon
Hebrew transcription from Milík, DJD I (Oxford: Clarendon, 1955) for 1Q34 and Baillet, DJD VII (Oxford: Clarendon, 1982) for 4Q507–509. The source text is presented with heavy lacuna notation throughout, reflecting the extreme fragmentary condition of all four manuscripts; only the Leviticus 16:30 passage in 4Q508 Fragment 2 is preserved with confidence. The remaining text represents the legible vocabulary of the fragments as reported in the DJD transcriptions; for complete critical transcription, consult the DJD editions. The 1Q34 Fragment 2 source text is reconstructed from the penitential vocabulary securely attested in the fragment; brackets indicate lacunose or conjectured readings.
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