Father:
May your holy name be honored;
may your Kingdom come.
Give us day by day the food we need.
Forgive us our sins,
for we forgive everyone who does us wrong.
And do not bring us to hard testing.[Πάτερ, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν·
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν,
καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίομεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν.]The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Luke 11: 2-4 (Jesus) [GNT (1976)]
(Source)
In Luke, Jesus offers this when asked by his disciples how to properly pray. It is known as "The Lord's Prayer," or, based on its initial words, the "Our Father" (Greek Πάτερ ἡμῶν, Latin Pater Noster).
This passage is paralleled, somewhat more simply, in Matthew 6:9-13. That prayer has seven petitions, while this one has (in most accepted versions) five. It is missing in Mark, leading to various hypotheses as to the Matthew/Luke origins. The JB suggests the Matthew prayer is "the more ancient," and liturgical use of the prayer is almost always based on the Matthew version.
Dante Alighieri crafted his own version of of this prayer in his Divine Comedy, "Purgatorio."
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
[KJV (1611)]Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.
[JB (1966); NJB (1985)]Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.
[NIV (2011 ed.)]Father, uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom.
Give us the bread we need for today.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who has wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation.
[CEB (2011)]Father, may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Further notes:
- The NRSV and NIV suggest the reference to "Father" (11:2) is given in some manuscripts as "Our Father in heaven."
- The NRSV and JB say some manuscripts (perhaps from baptismal liturgies) read the "kingdom come" line (11:2) as "May your Holy Spirit come down on us and cleanse us."
- The NRSV and NIV say some manuscripts add a line after "your kingdom come" (11:2): "Your will be done, on earth as in heaven."
- The GNT and NRSV suggests the third line (11:3) can also end "food for the next day" or "bread for tomorrow."
- The NIV says that in the Greek the "everyone who sins against us" line (11:4) can be read "everyone who is indebted to us."
- The NRSV suggests that the last line (11:4) can also be read "us into temptation."
- The NRSV and NIV note some manuscripts add to the end of the prayer, "but rescue us from the evil one" or "but rescue us from evil."
Quotations about:
petition
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.[Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,
ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,
ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
Ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία
καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα
εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.]The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 9-13 “The Lord’s Prayer” (Jesus) [Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (1928)]
(Source)
Jesus offers this as an example of how to pray (versus the wordier prayers of the "pagans"). Because of this, it is known as "The Lord's Prayer," or, based on its initial words, the "Our Father" (Greek Πάτερ ἡμῶν, Latin Pater Noster).
This passage is paralleled, somewhat more simply, in Luke 11:2-4. That prayer has five petitions, while this one has (in most accepted versions) seven. It is missing in Mark, leading to various hypotheses as to the Matthew/Luke origins. The JB suggests the Matthew prayer is "the more ancient," and liturgical use of the prayer is almost always based on the Matthew version.
Dante Alighieri crafted his own version of of this prayer in his Divine Comedy, "Purgatorio."
The (here italicized) concluding doxology ("For thine is the kingdom ... Amen") is not in the oldest Greek manuscripts (see below for more discussion).
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever. Amen.
[KJV (1611)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debs,
as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.
[JB (1966)]Our Father in heaven:
May your holy name be honored;
may your Kingdom come;
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done,
as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
Do not bring us to hard testing,
but keep us safe from the Evil One.
[GNT (1976)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the Evil One.
[NJB (1985)]Our Father who is in heaven,
uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom
so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.
Give us the bread we need for today.
Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,
just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
[CEB (2011)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
May your kingdom come.
May what you want to happen be done
on earth as it is done in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.
Keep us from sinning when we are tempted.
Save us from the evil one.
[NIV (2011 ed.)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Further Notes:The final doxology ("For thine is the kingdom ...") is not in the oldest Greek texts, and is usually included as a footnote in modern Bible translations (the translators of the King James Version mistakenly thought they had the oldest texts and so included it verse 13). Adding such a doxology at the end of prayers was common in the early Church liturgies. Many Protestant denominations of Christianity include it in their recitation of the Lord's Prayer; in Catholic Masses, a version is included shortly after it. Beyond the KJV inclusion above, other translations include:
- On "daily bread," JB/NJB notes the Greek word here is "obscure," and may mean "necessary for subsistence" or "for tomorrow." NRSV and GNT similarly note an alternative, "Give us today our bread for tomorrow."
- NRSV notes an alternative translation, "And do not bring us into testing ..."
- JB/NJB and NRSV notes a final line alternative translation: "... but rescue us from evil."
- The JB/NJB footnotes Matthew's recurring use of the number 7, here including seven petitions.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.
[JB/NJB]
For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen.
[NRSV]
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
[GNT]
See also here for additional discussion about the prayer.
In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[Προσευχόμενοι δὲ μὴ βατταλογήσητε ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί, δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται. μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 7-8 (Jesus) [NJB (1985)]
(Source)
No Synoptic parallels.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
[KJV (1611)]In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[JB (1966)]When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him.
[GNT (1976)]When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask.
[CEB (2011)]When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
The Bill of Rights was not written into the Constitution in order to protect governments from “trouble,” but so that the people might have a legitimate method of causing trouble to governments they no longer trusted.
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Letter to the Editor, New York Times (17 Jun 1971)
(Source)
A generous prayer is never presented in vain; the petition may be refused, but the petitioner is always, I believe, rewarded by some gracious visitation.
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Pray,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1906-04-06) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1906-04-11).
