Parshat Bereishis 4:7 states:
"surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven . . ."
This seems a very succinct, cogent formula but for some reason appears nowhere else.
Why wouldn't this formula feature prominently in the High Holiday prayers or even elsewhere?
Answer:
This verse is one of five whose grammatical structure cannot be determined, according to Chazal (Yoma 52a; Yerushalmi Avodah Zara ch. 2; Mechilta d'Rabi Yishmael, Amalek 1).
Perhaps for this reason it was not incorporated into any of the prayers.
Beyond its absence from the prayers, however, this verse certainly features prominently in many rabbinic homiletic works, examples of which can be found in the Talmud (Kidushin 30b); Sifrei (Parshas Re'eh, 54); Midrash Tan'aim (11:18) and many other commentaries.
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