The original version The Hebrew text is as it appears in all siddurim, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic. ° The last line of the piyut itself is "You are our Savior." The Ashkenazic liturgy follows this immediately (as part of the chanting) with "You are the one before whom ...." followed by a Talmudic description of the mixing of the incense spices for the Temple. This text is typically omitted in
Reform liturgy. °° The Sephard, and the Sephardic/Mizrahi liturgies follow the last line of the piyut with the words, "You will save us," followed by the quotation of
Psalm 102:14, "You will arise ...." Among Ashkenazim, the additional line and the Talmudic lesson on the making of incense which follows it is considered optional and so that line and lesson might be omitted. This prayer appears in the liturgy as early as the
Siddur Rav Amram (ca 875) – where the first verse is "Who is like ..." and the second verse is "There is none like ...", but the present sequence appears in the
Mahzor Vitry and in
Rashi (both late 11th century) and a century later in
Maimonides. The present sequence is viewed as, first, a declaration against all other religions, then a challenge to all other religions, and thereafter as worship. Additionally,
Abudraham (ca. 1340) pointed that the initial "א" from the first verse, the "מ" from the second, and the "נ" from the third formed
Amen, and taking the
Barukh from the fourth verse and the
Atah from the final verse, together produce "Amen. Blessed are Thou" – as if the end of one prayer and the beginning of another, and this serves as a suitable mnemonic to keep the verses in proper sequence. ==Ladino version==