The Lord’s Prayer

“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, forever and ever.

Amen.

The “Lord’s Prayer,” which begins with “Our Father who art in heaven,” originates from the New Testament of the Bible. It is attributed to Jesus Christ, who taught it to his disciples as a model for how to pray. The prayer appears in two slightly different versions in the Gospels:

Matthew 6:9-13 (part of the Sermon on the Mount):

This is the longer and more commonly used version in Christian liturgy. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus provides it as an example of prayer, emphasizing simplicity and directness contrasted with the verbose prayers of others at the time.

From the King James Version (KJV):
“After this manner therefore pray ye: 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.”

Luke 11:2-4:
A shorter version, given in response to a disciple’s request, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

From the King James Version (KJV):
“And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, 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.”

Historical Context

The prayer was originally spoken in Aramaic, the language Jesus likely used, but the surviving texts are in Greek from the early manuscripts of the New Testament.

Over time, it was translated into Latin (e.g., the “Pater Noster”) and later into various languages, with slight variations depending on tradition and translation (e.g., “debts” vs. “trespasses”).

The doxology (“For thine is the kingdom…”) at the end isn’t in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew or Luke but was added later in Christian tradition, possibly influenced by liturgical use or 1 Chronicles 29:11.

It’s considered one of the most universal and foundational prayers in Christianity, used across denominations with minor differences in wording.