Dayenu: Gratitude From Creation to New Creation
A retelling of the Passover song of “enough.”
Dayenu is a Hebrew word meaning:
“it would have been enough” or “that would have sufficed.”
It comes from a traditional Passover song sung for more than a thousand years. In the Jewish celebration of the Exodus, the people recite each act of God’s saving work:
Bringing them out of Egypt
Parting the Red Sea
Giving the Torah
After each one they say dayenu.
It means:
If God had done only that one thing, and nothing more, it still would have been enough to deserve our thanks.
It’s not a statement that God ever stops with “enough,” but a discipline of layered gratitude — training our hearts to see every step of His care as a complete gift in itself, even as He continues to give more.
The following is retelling follows the pattern from the beginning of creation, through the covenants, to the birth of Christ.
His saving work, the gift of the Spirit, and the promise of the new creation.
Read it aloud :
As a personal reflection
Responsive reading
If it works out with one person saying the act of God and everyone responding:
Dayenu!
Creation and Promise
For the Spirit hovering over the tohu va-bohu (formless and void) — Dayenu!
For light breaking through darkness — Dayenu!
For separating the waters above and below — Dayenu!
For gathering the seas and clothing the earth in green — Dayenu!
For filling the sky, sea, and land with living creatures —Dayenu!
For making humankind in His image — Dayenu!
For the rest and blessing of the seventh day — Dayenu!
For the promise that the woman’s seed would crush the serpent’s head — Dayenu!
For the covenant with Noah and the rainbow in the clouds — Dayenu!
For calling Abram and promising him descendants and land — Dayenu!
For changing Sarai’s name to Sarah and giving her laughter in old age — Dayenu!
For rescuing Isaac with the ram in the thicket — Dayenu!
Exodus and Covenant
For bringing Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand — Dayenu!
For the blood of the lamb on the doorposts — Dayenu!
For the Red Sea parted and dry land beneath their feet — Dayenu!
For manna in the wilderness and water from the rock — Dayenu!
For the covenant at Sinai and the gift of the Torah — Dayenu!
For the tabernacle filled with His glory — Dayenu!
Kings and Prophets
For the judges who delivered Israel — Dayenu!
For David the shepherd-king and his psalms of praise — Dayenu!
For Solomon’s temple, a place for His Name — Dayenu!
For the prophets who spoke truth to kings — Dayenu!
For the promise of a new covenant written on the heart — Dayenu!
The Coming of the Messiah
For the angel’s word to Mary — Dayenu!
For Joseph’s obedience to guard the Child — Dayenu!
For shepherds who came running at the angel’s song — Dayenu!
For wise men from the east who laid gifts before Him — Dayenu!
For the Word made flesh who dwelt among us — Dayenu!
The Ministry of Jesus
For the water turned to wine at Cana — Dayenu!
For the leper cleansed and the blind given sight — Dayenu!
For the lame walking and the dead raised — Dayenu!
For the bread multiplied in the wilderness — Dayenu!
For the storm stilled with a word — Dayenu!
For the teaching that opened our hearts to the Kingdom — Dayenu!
The Passion and Resurrection
For the triumphal entry into Jerusalem — Dayenu!
For the bread and cup shared at the table — Dayenu!
For the washing of the disciples’ feet — Dayenu!
For the prayers in Gethsemane — Dayenu!
For the betrayal and the trial endured in silence — Dayenu!
For the crown of thorns and the nails in His hands — Dayenu!
For His cry, “It is finished” — Dayenu!
For the stone rolled away on the third day — Dayenu!
For the risen Christ appearing to His own — Dayenu!
The Spirit and the Church
For the ascension and promise of His return — Dayenu!
For the rushing wind and tongues of fire — Dayenu!
For the apostles’ bold witness — Dayenu!
For the Word going out to every nation — Dayenu!
For the Spirit’s gifts to the Bride — Dayenu!
The Hope of Glory
For the saints who have gone before us — Dayenu!
For the promise that death will be no more — Dayenu!
For the marriage supper of the Lamb — Dayenu!
For the new heavens and the new earth — Dayenu!
For seeing His face at last — Dayenu!
Praying or singing Dayenu trains the soul to :
Slow down
See the layered mercy of God
Reminding us that each act of His covenant love
from the first spark of creation to the final promise of resurrection life — would have been enough to deserve all our thanks and worship.
And yet, He has done all of them.
Dayenu.