The Lord's Prayer, also known by its

incipit The incipit ( ) of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of Musical note, notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin an ...

Our Father (, ), is a central

Christian prayer Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice. Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, such as from a breviary, wh ...

attributed to

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness,

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manuscripts and Christian traditions. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the

gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

: a longer form within the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, and a shorter form in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

when "one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. Scholars generally agree that the differences between the Matthaean and Lucan versions of the Lord’s Prayer reflect independent developments from a common source. The first-century text '' Didache'' (at chapter VIII) reports a version closely resembling that of Matthew and the modern prayer. It ends with the Minor Doxology. Theologians broadly view the Lord’s Prayer as a model that aligns the soul with God’s will, emphasizing praise, trust, and ethical living. The prayer is used by most

Christian denominations A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

in their

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

and, with few exceptions, the

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

form is the Matthean version. It has been set to music for use in liturgical services. Since the 16th century, the Lord’s Prayer has been widely translated and collected to compare

languages Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing. Human language is ch ...

across regions and history. The Lord’s Prayer shares thematic and linguistic parallels with prayers and texts from various religious traditions—including the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Dhammapada and the

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...

—though some elements, such as “Lead us not into temptation,” have unique theological nuances without direct Old Testament counterparts. Music from 9th century

Gregorian chants Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe duri ...

to modern works by Christopher Tin has used the Lord’s Prayer in various religious and interfaith ceremonies. Additionally, the prayer has appeared in popular culture in diverse ways, including as a cooking timer, in songs by

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

and Yazoo, in films like ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

'', in Beat poetry, and more recently in a controversial punk rock performance by a Filipino

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

Texts

The text of the Lord's Prayer shown here is from the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

(NIV). Initial words on the topic from the ''

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' (; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a reference work that summarizes the Catholic Church's doctrine. It was Promulgation (Catholic canon law), promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 ...

'' teach that it "is truly the summary of the whole gospel". The first three of the seven petitions in Matthew address God; the other four are related to human needs and concerns. Matthew's account alone includes the "Your will be done" and the "Rescue us from the evil one" (or "Deliver us from evil") petitions. Both original

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

texts contain the adjective ; while controversial, 'daily' has been the most common English-language translation of this word.

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

usually conclude the prayer with a doxology (in some versions, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen"), a later addition appearing in some

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

of Matthew. The Eastern Orthodox version is: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Relationship between the Matthaean and Lucan texts

biblical criticism Modern Biblical criticism (as opposed to pre-Modern criticism) is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible without appealing to the supernatural. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical c ...

, the absence of the Lord's Prayer in the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

, together with its occurrence in Matthew and Luke, has caused scholars who accept the two-source hypothesis (against other document hypotheses) to conclude that it is probably a '' logion'' original to the Q source. According to W.D. Davies and Dale Allison, it is also possible than one version was present in Q and another from the M source or the L source, though they do not view the notion that Luke's version used Matthew as plausible. The common source of the two existing versions, whether Q or an oral or another written tradition, was elaborated differently in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Marianus Pale Hera considers it unlikely that either of the two used the other as its source and that it is possible that they "preserve two versions of the Lord's Prayer used in two different communities: the Matthean in a Jewish Christian community and the Lucan in the Gentile Christian community". Davies and Allison find this theory to be possible as well. While there is no reason to doubt the origin of the Lord's Prayer with Jesus, the prayer differs between Luke and Matthew. Luke's is not as long and closer in wording, while Matthew's is thematically more similar to the original. If either source built on the other, Joachim Jeremias attributes priority to Matthew on the grounds that "in the early period, before wordings were fixed, liturgical texts were elaborated, expanded and enriched". On the other hand, Michael Goulder, Thomas J. Mosbo and Ken Olson see the shorter Lucan version as a reworking of the Matthaean text, removing unnecessary verbiage and repetition. The Matthaean version has completely ousted the Lucan in general Christian usage. The following considerations are based on the Matthaean version.

Greek texts

The majority percentage of the verbs are

aorist Aorist ( ; abbreviated ) verb forms usually express perfective aspect and refer to past events, similar to a preterite. Ancient Greek grammar had the aorist form, and the grammars of other Indo-European languages and languages influenced by the ...

imperatives. In the first part of the prayer there are third person passive imperatives, while in the last one there are second person active imperatives.

Original Greek text and Syriac and Latin translations

Standard edition of the Greek text

The text given here is that of the latest edition of '' Greek New Testament'' of the United Bible Societies and in the Nestle-Aland . Most modern translations use a text similar to this one. Most older translations are based on a Byzantine-type text with in line 5 (verse 10) instead of , and in line 8 (verse 12) instead of , and adding at the end (verse 13) the doxology # # # # # # #

Standard edition of the Syriac text of the Peshitta

The Classical Syriac vowels here transcribed as "ê", "ā" and "o/ō" have been raised to "i", "o" and "u" respectively in Western Syriac. # # # # # # #

Vulgata Clementina (1692)

There are three editions of the Vulgate: the Clementine edition of the Vulgate, the , and the Stuttgart Vulgate. The Clementine edition varies from the in this place only in punctuation and in having in place of . The Stuttgart Vulgate has in place of ; in place of ; in place of ; and in place of . # # # # # # # The doxology associated with the Lord's Prayer in Byzantine Greek texts is found in four

Vetus Latina The ''Vetus Latina'' ("Old Latin" in Latin), also known as ''Vetus Itala'' ("Old Italian"), ''Itala'' ("Italian") and Old Italic, and denoted by the siglum \mathfrak, are the Latin Bible translations, translations of biblical texts (both Old T ...

manuscripts, only two of which give it in its entirety. The other surviving manuscripts of the Vetus Latina Gospels do not have the doxology. The Vulgate translation also does not include it, thus agreeing with critical editions of the Greek text.

Liturgical texts: Greek, Syriac, Latin

Patriarchal Edition 1904 ,
,
,
.

.
. :Syriac liturgical : :''(our father who art in heaven)'' : :''(hallowed be thy name)'' : :''(thy kingdom come)'' : :''(thy will be done as it is in heaven also on earth)'' : :''(give us the bread of our need this day)'' : :''(and forgive us our debts and our sins as we have forgiven our debtors)'' : :''(and bring us not into temptation but deliver us from evil)'' : :''(for thine is the kingdom the power the glory for an age of ages amen)'' Roman Missal :''Pater noster qui es in cælis:'' :''sanctificétur nomen tuum;'' :''advéniat regnum tuum;'' :'' fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo, et in terra.'' :''Panem nostrum cotidiánum da nobis hódie;'' :''et dimítte nobis débita nostra,'' :''sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris;'' :''et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem;'' :''sed líbera nos a malo.''

English versions

There are several different English translations of the Lord's Prayer from Greek or Latin, beginning around AD 650 with the Northumbrian translation. Of those in current liturgical use, the three best-known are: * The translation in the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

* The slightly modernized "traditional ecumenical" form used in the Catholic, and (often with doxology) in many Protestant Churches * The 1988 translation of the

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC) All these versions are based on the text in Matthew, rather than Luke, of the prayer given by Jesus.

''Book of Common Prayer'', 1662

Traditional ecumenical version

1988 English Language Liturgical Consultation

The concluding doxology ("For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever") is representative of the practice of concluding prayers with a short, hymn-like verse that exalts the glory of God. Older English translations of the Bible, based on late Byzantine Greek manuscripts, included it, but it is absent in the oldest manuscripts and is not considered to be part of the original text of Matthew 6:9– 13. The translators of the 1611

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

assumed that a Greek manuscript they possessed was ancient and therefore adopted the text into the Lord's Prayer of the Gospel of Matthew. The use of the doxology in English dates from at least 1549 with the First Prayer Book of Edward VI which was influenced by

William Tyndale William Tyndale (; sometimes spelled ''Tynsdale'', ''Tindall'', ''Tindill'', ''Tyndall''; – October 1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestantism, Protestant Reformation in the year ...

's New Testament translation in 1526. In the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

, whenever a priest is officiating, after the Lord's Prayer he intones this augmented form of the doxology, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.", and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen". The Catholic

Latin liturgical rites Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, is a large family of ritual family, liturgical rites and Use (liturgy), uses of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church ...

have never attached the doxology to the end of the Lord's Prayer. The doxology does appear in the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

as revised in 1969. After the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, the priest says a prayer known as the

embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (air embolism, gas embolism), amniotic ...

. In the official International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) English translation, the embolism reads: "Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ." This elaborates on the final petition, "Deliver us from evil." The people then respond to this with the doxology: "For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever."

Analysis

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

gives the following analysis of the Lord's Prayer, which elaborates on Jesus' words just before it in the Gospel of Matthew: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way" (Matthew 6:8–9): This excerpt from Augustine is included in the Office of Readings in the Catholic

Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours (), Divine Office (), or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the Latin Church. The Liturgy of the Hours forms the official ...

. Many have written biblical commentaries on the Lord's Prayer. Contained below are a variety of selections from some of those commentaries.

Introduction

"Our" indicates that the prayer is that of a group of people who consider themselves children of God and who call God their "Father". "In

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

" indicates that the Father who is addressed is distinct from human fathers on earth.

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

interpreted "heaven" (''coelum'', sky) in this context as meaning "in the hearts of the righteous, as it were in His holy temple".

First Petition

Former

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Rowan Williams explains this phrase as a petition that people may look upon God's name as holy, as something that inspires awe and reverence, and that they may not trivialize it by making God a tool for their purposes, to "put other people down, or as a sort of magic to make themselves feel safe". He sums up the meaning of the phrase by saying: "Understand what you're talking about when you're talking about God, this is serious, this is the most wonderful and frightening reality that we could imagine, more wonderful and frightening than we can imagine." Richard Challoner writes that: " is petition claims the first place in the Lord's prayer .. because the first and principal duty of a Christian is, to love his God with his whole heart and soul, and therefore the first and principal thing he ought to desire and pray for is, the great honor and glory of God."

Second Petition

"This petition has its parallel in the Jewish prayer, 'May he establish his Kingdom during your life and during your days. In the gospels Jesus speaks frequently of God's kingdom, but never defines the concept: "He assumed this was a concept so familiar that it did not require definition." Concerning how Jesus' audience in the gospels would have understood him, George Eldon Ladd turns to the concept's Hebrew biblical background: "The Hebrew word ''malkuth'' ..refers first to a reign, dominion, or rule and only secondarily to the realm over which a reign is exercised. ..When ''malkuth'' is used of God, it almost always refers to his authority or to his rule as the heavenly King." This petition looks to the perfect establishment of God's rule in the world in the future, an act of God resulting in the eschatological order of the new age. The Catholic Church believes that, by praying the Lord's prayer, a Christian hastens the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

. Like the church, some denominations see the coming of God's kingdom as a divine gift to be prayed for, not a human achievement. Others believe that the Kingdom will be fostered by the hands of those faithful who work for a better world. These believe that Jesus' commands to feed the hungry and clothe the needy make the seeds of the kingdom already present on earth (Lk 8:5–15; Mt 25:31–40). Hilda C. Graef notes that the operative Greek word, ''basileia,'' means both kingdom and kingship (i.e., reign, dominion, governing, etc.), but that the English word kingdom loses this double meaning. Kingship adds a psychological meaning to the petition: one is also praying for the condition of soul where one follows God's will. Richard Challoner, commenting on this petition, notes that the kingdom of God can be understood in three ways: 1) of the eternal kingdom of God in heaven. 2) of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, in his Church upon earth. 3) of the mystical kingdom of God, in our souls, according to the words of Christ, "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21).

Third Petition

According to William Barclay, this phrase is a couplet with the same meaning as "Thy kingdom come". Barclay argues that "the kingdom is a state of things on earth in which God's will is as perfectly done as it is in heaven. ...To do the will of God and to be in the Kingdom of God are one and the same thing." John Ortberg interprets this phrase as follows: "Many people think our job is to get my

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

destination taken care of, then tread water till we all get ejected and God comes back and torches this place. But Jesus never told anybody – neither his disciples nor us – to pray, 'Get me out of here so I can go up there.' His prayer was, 'Make up there come down here.' Make things down here run the way they do up there."Ortberg, John Ortberg. "God is Closer Than You Think". Zondervan, 2005, p. 176.

Stephen Cottrell Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell (; born 31 August 1958) is a Church of England bishop. Since 9 July 2020, he has been the Archbishop of York and Primate of England; the second-most senior bishop of the church and the most senior in northern England ...

makes the same point in his reflections on "Thy Kingdom Come": "the promise of the gospel isn’t really us going up to heaven, but heaven coming down to earth". The request that "thy will be done" is God's invitation to "join him in making things down here the way they are up there".

Fourth Petition

As mentioned earlier, the original word (''

epiousion () is a Koine Greek adjective used in the Lord's Prayer verse "" ('Give us today our bread'). Because the word is used nowhere else, its meaning is unclear. It is traditionally translated as "daily", but most modern scholars reject that inte ...

''), commonly characterized as ''daily'', is unique to the Lord's Prayer in all of ancient Greek literature. The word is almost a '' hapax legomenon'', occurring only in Luke and Matthew's versions of the Lord's Prayer, and nowhere else in any other extant Greek texts. While ''epiousion'' is often substituted by the word "daily", all other

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

translations from the Greek into "daily" otherwise reference ''hemeran'' (ἡμέραν, "the day"), which does not appear in this usage.

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

by linguistic

parsing Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is a process of analyzing a String (computer science), string of Symbol (formal), symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal gramm ...

translated "ἐπιούσιον" (''epiousion'') as "''supersubstantialem''" in the Gospel of Matthew, but as "''cotidianum''" ("daily") in the Gospel of Luke. This wide-ranging difference with respect to meaning of ''epiousion'' is discussed in detail in the current ''

'' in an inclusive approach toward tradition as well as a literal one for meaning: "Taken in a temporal sense, this word is a pedagogical repetition of 'this day', to confirm us in trust 'without reservation'. Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is necessary for life, and more broadly every good thing sufficient for subsistence. Taken literally (''epi-ousios'': 'super-essential'), it refers directly to the Bread of Life, the

Body of Christ In Christian theology, the term Body of Christ () has two main but separate meanings: it may refer to Jesus Christ's words over the bread at the celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover that "This is my body" in (see Last Supper), or it ...

, the 'medicine of immortality,' without which we have no life within us." ''Epiousion'' is translated as ''supersubstantialem'' in the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

Matthew 6:11 and accordingly as ''supersubstantial'' in the

Douay–Rheims Bible The Douay–Rheims Bible (, ), also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by member ...

Matthew 6:11. Barclay M. Newman's ''A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament'', published in a revised edition in 2010 by the United Bible Societies, has the following entry: It thus derives the word from the preposition ἐπί (''epi'') and the verb εἰμί (''eimi''), from the latter of which are derived words such as οὐσία (''

ousia ''Ousia'' (; ) is a philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy, then later in Christian theology. It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, as a primary designation for philoso ...

''), the range of whose meanings is indicated in ''

A Greek–English Lexicon ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', often referred to as ''Liddell & Scott'' () or ''Liddell–Scott–Jones'' (''LSJ''), is a standard lexicographical work of the Ancient Greek language originally edited by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, H ...

''.

Fifth Petition

Although Matthew 6:12 uses the term ''debts'', most older English versions of the Lord's Prayer use the term ''trespasses'', while ecumenical versions often use the term ''sins''. The last choice may be due to Luke 11:4, which uses the word ''sins'', while the former may be due to Matthew 6:14 (immediately after the text of the prayer), where Jesus speaks of ''trespasses''. As early as the third century,

Origen of Alexandria Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises i ...

used the word ''trespasses'' () in the prayer. The Latin form that was traditionally used in Western Europe has ''debita'' (''debts''), but most English-speaking Christians (except Scottish Presbyterians and some others of the Dutch Reformed tradition) use ''trespasses''. For example, the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

, the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

, the

Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 82,865 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed ...

, as well as some

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

heritage churches in the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

follow the version found in Matthew 6 in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

(KJV), which in the prayer uses the words ''debts'' and ''debtors''. The Presbyterian and other Reformed churches tend to use the rendering "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans and Methodists are more likely to say "trespasses... those who trespass against us". The "debts" form appears in the first English translation of the Bible, by

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

in 1395 (Wycliffe spelling "dettis"). The "trespasses" version appears in the 1526 translation by

(Tyndale spelling "treaspases"). In 1549 the first ''Book of Common Prayer'' in English used a version of the prayer with "trespasses". This became the "official" version used in Anglican congregations. On the other hand, the 1611

, the version specifically authorized for the

, has "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". After the request for bread, Matthew and Luke diverge slightly. Matthew continues with a request for

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

s to be forgiven in the same manner as people have forgiven those who have debts against them. Luke, on the other hand, makes a similar request about

sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

s being forgiven in the manner of debts being forgiven between people. The word "debts" () does not necessarily mean financial obligations, as shown by the use of the verbal form of the same word () in passages such as Romans 13:8. The

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

word ''ḥôbâ'' can mean "debt" or "sin". This difference between Luke's and Matthew's wording could be explained by the original form of the prayer having been in Aramaic. The generally accepted interpretation is thus that the request is for forgiveness of sin, not of supposed loans granted by God. Asking for forgiveness from God was a staple of Jewish prayers (e.g., Penitential Psalms). It was also considered proper for individuals to be forgiving of others, so the sentiment expressed in the prayer would have been a common one of the time. Anthony C. Deane, Canon of

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and Blessed Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England cathedral in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Worcester and is the Mother Church# ...

, suggested that the choice of the word "ὀφειλήματα" (debts), rather than "ἁμαρτίας" (sins), indicates a reference to failures to use opportunities of doing good. He linked this with the parable of the sheep and the goats (also in Matthew's Gospel), in which the grounds for condemnation are not wrongdoing in the ordinary sense, but failure to do right, missing opportunities for showing

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

to others. "As we forgive ...". Divergence between Matthew's "debts" and Luke's "sins" is relatively trivial compared to the impact of the second half of this statement. The verses immediately following the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:14–15 show Jesus teaching that the forgiveness of our sin/debt (by God) is linked with how we forgive others, as in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant Matthew 18:23–35, which Matthew gives later. R. T. France comments:

Sixth Petition

Interpretations of the penultimate petition of the prayer – not to be led by God into ''peirasmos –'' vary considerably. The range of meanings of the Greek word "πειρασμός" (''peirasmos'') is illustrated in New Testament Greek lexicons. In different contexts it can mean temptation, testing, trial, experiment. Although the traditional English translation uses the word "

temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

" and

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

saw God as actually leading people astray, Christians generally interpret the petition as not contradicting James 1:13–14: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God', for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." Some see the petition as an eschatological appeal against unfavourable

Last Judgment The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

, a theory supported by the use of the word "''peirasmos''" in this sense in Revelation 3:10. Others see it as a plea against hard ''tests'' described elsewhere in scripture, such as those of Job. It is also read as: "Do not let us be led (by ourselves, by others, by Satan) into temptations".

Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

comments: "For the completeness of so brief a prayer He added — in order that we should supplicate not touching the remitting merely, but touching the entire averting, of acts of guilt — Lead us not into temptation: that is, suffer us not to be led into it, by him (of course) who tempts; but far be the thought that the Lord should seem to tempt, as if He either were ignorant of the faith of any, or else were eager to overthrow it. Infirmity and malice are characteristics of the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

...The final clause, therefore, is consonant, and interprets the sense of Lead us not into temptation; for this sense is, But convey us away from the Evil One." (''On Prayer'', Ch. VIII) Coherently, Saint Cyprian of Carthago translates Matthew 6:9 as follows: ''And suffer us not to be led into temptation; but deliver us from evil.'' (''On the Lord's Prayer'', n. 7) Since it follows shortly after a plea for daily bread (i.e., material sustenance), it is also seen as referring to not being caught up in the material pleasures given. A similar phrase appears in Matthew 26:41 and Luke 22:40 in connection with the prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane.

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

, the founder of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

, in a version of the Holy Bible which was not published before his death, used: "And suffer us not to be led into temptation". In a conversation on the Italian TV channel TV2000 on 6 December 2017,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

commented that the then Italian wording of this petition (similar to the traditional English) was a poor translation. He said "the French" (i.e., the Bishops' Conference of France) had changed the petition to "Do not let us fall in/into temptation". He was referring to the 2017 change to a new French version, ("Do not let us enter into temptation"), but spoke of it in terms of the Spanish translation, ("do not let us fall in/into temptation"), that he was accustomed to recite in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

before his election as Pope. He explained: "I am the one who falls; it's not him odpushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen".Padre Nostro - Settima puntata: 'Non ci indurre in tentazione'
at 1:05.

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

theologian Ian Paul said that such a proposal was "stepping into a theological debate about the nature of evil". In January 2018, after "in-depth study", the German Bishops' Conference rejected any rewording of their translation of the Lord's Prayer. In November 2018, the Episcopal Conference of Italy adopted a new edition of the ''Messale Romano'', the Italian translation of the

Roman Missal The Roman Missal () is the book which contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Roman Rite, the most common liturgy and Mass of the Catholic Church. There have been several editions. History Before the Council of Trent (1570) ...

. One of the changes made from the older (1983) edition was to render this petition as ("do not abandon us to temptation"). This was approved by Pope Francis; however, there are no current plans to make a similar change for the English translation . The Italian-speaking Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches maintains its translation of the petition: ("do not expose us to temptation").

Seventh Petition

Translations and scholars are divided over whether the final word here refers to "

evil Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...

" in general or "the evil one" (the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

) in particular. In the original Greek, as well as in the Latin translation, the word could be either of neuter (evil in general) or masculine (the evil one) gender. Matthew's version of the prayer appears in the

, in earlier parts of which the term is used to refer to general evil. Later parts of Matthew refer to the devil when discussing similar issues. However, the devil is never referred to as ''the evil one'' in any known Aramaic sources. While

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

accepted the vagueness of the term's meaning, he considered that there is little real difference between the two interpretations, and that therefore the question is of no real consequence. Similar phrases are found in John 17:15 and Thessalonians 3:3.

Doxology

Content

The doxology sometimes attached to the prayer in English is similar to a passage in 1 Chronicles 29:11 – "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all." It is also similar to the paean to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in Daniel 2:37 – "You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory". The doxology has been interpreted as connected with the final petition: "Deliver us from evil". The kingdom, the power and the glory are the Father's, not of our antagonist's, who is subject to him to whom Christ will hand over the kingdom after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power ( 1 Corinthians 15:24). It makes the prayer end as well as begin with the vision of God in heaven, in the majesty of his name and kingdom and the perfection of his will and purpose.

Origin

The doxology is not included in Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer, nor is it present in the earliest manuscripts (papyrus or parchment) of Matthew, representative of the Alexandrian text, although it is present in the manuscripts representative of the later Byzantine text. Most scholars do not consider it part of the original text of Matthew. The Codex Washingtonianus, which adds a doxology (in the familiar text), is of the early fifth or late fourth century. New translations generally omit it except as a footnote. The '' Didache'', generally considered a first-century text, has a doxology, "for yours is the power and the glory forever", as a conclusion for the Lord's Prayer (''Didache'', 8:2). C. Clifton Black, although regarding the ''Didache'' as an "early second century" text, nevertheless considers the doxology it contains to be the "earliest additional ending we can trace". Of a longer version, Black observes: "Its earliest appearance may have been in Tatian's '' Diatessaron'', a second-century harmony of the four Gospels". The first three editions of the United Bible Societies text cited the ''Diatessaron'' for inclusion of the familiar doxology in Matthew 6:13, but in the later editions it cites the ''Diatessaron'' for excluding it. The '' Apostolic Constitutions'' added "the kingdom" to the beginning of the formula in the ''Didache'', thus establishing the now familiar doxology.

Varied liturgical use

In the

, whenever a priest is officiating, after the last line of the prayer he intones the doxology, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.", and in either instance, reciter(s) of the prayer reply "Amen". Adding a doxology to the Our Father is not part of the liturgical tradition of the

nor does the Latin

of St.

contain the doxology that appears in late Greek manuscripts. However, it is recited since 1970 in the Roman Rite

Order of Mass Order of Mass is an outline of a Mass celebration, describing how and in what order liturgical texts and rituals are employed to constitute a Mass. The expression Order of Mass is particularly tied to the Roman Rite where the sections under that ...

, not as part of the Lord's Prayer but separately as a response acclamation after the

developing the seventh petition in the perspective of the Final Coming of Christ. In most Anglican editions of the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

'', the Lord's Prayer ends with the doxology unless it is preceded by the Kyrie eleison. This happens at the daily offices of Morning Prayer ( Mattins) and Evening Prayer (

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which ...

) and in a few other offices. The vast majority of

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches conclude the Lord's Prayer with the doxology.

Use as a language comparison tool

Lithuanian language in European language map 1741

In the course of

Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

, one of the first texts to be translated between many languages has historically been the Lord's Prayer, long before the full Bible would be translated into the respective languages. Since the 16th century, collections of translations of the prayer have often been used for a quick comparison of languages. The first such collection, with 22 versions, was ''Mithridates, de differentiis linguarum'' by

Conrad Gessner Conrad Gessner (; ; 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his talents and supported him t ...

(1555; the title refers to

Mithridates VI of Pontus Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...

who according to

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

was an exceptional polyglot). Gessner's idea of collecting translations of the prayer was taken up by authors of the 17th century, including Hieronymus Megiserus (1603) and Georg Pistorius (1621). in 1680 published an enlarged collection of 83 versions of the prayer, under the pseudonym of Thomas Ludeken,
Orationis dominicae versiones praeter authenticam fere centum...
', Thomas Lüdeken, Officina Rungiana, 1680. of which three were in fictional philosophical languages. In 1700, Müller's collection was re-edited by B. Mottus as ''Oratio dominica plus centum linguis versionibus aut characteribus reddita et expressa''. This edition was comparatively inferior, but a second, revised edition was published in 1715 by John Chamberlayne. This 1715 edition was used by Gottfried Hensel in his '' Synopsis Universae Philologiae'' (1741) to compile "geographico-polyglot maps" where the beginning of the prayer was shown in the geographical area where the respective languages were spoken. Johann Ulrich Kraus also published a collection with more than 100 entries. These collections continued to be improved and expanded well into the 19th century; Johann Christoph Adelung and Johann Severin Vater in 1806–1817 published the prayer in "well-nigh five hundred languages and dialects". Samples of scripture, including the Lord's Prayer, were published in 52 oriental languages, most of them not previously found in such collections, translated by the brethren of the

Serampore Serampore (also called Serampur, Srirampur, Srirampore, Shreerampur, Shreerampore, Shrirampur or Shrirampore) is a city in Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Srirampore subdivision. It is a part ...

Mission and printed at the mission press there in 1818.

Catholic Indulgences

During the 2020–2021 jubilee of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

signed a decree that granted the plenary

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

to those who shall contemplate the Lord's Prayer for at least 30 minutes.

Comparisons with other prayer traditions

The book ''The Comprehensive New Testament'', by T. E. Clontz and J. Clontz, points to similarities between elements of the Lord's Prayer and expressions in writings of other religions as diverse as the '' Dhammapada'', the ''

'', the '' Golden Verses'', and the Egyptian ''

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' is the name given to an Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC ...

''. It mentions in particular parallels in 1 Chronicles 29:10-18. Rabbi Aron Mendes Chumaceiro says that nearly all the elements of the prayer have counterparts in the Jewish Bible and

Deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books, meaning 'of, pertaining to, or constituting a second canon', collectively known as the Deuterocanon (DC), are certain books and passages considered to be canonical books of the Old Testament by the Catholic Chur ...

: the first part in Isaiah 63:15-16 ("Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation... for you are our Father") and Ezekiel 36:23 ("I will vindicate the holiness of my great name...") and 38:23 ("I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations..."), the second part in Obadiah 1:21 ("Saviours shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's") and 1 Samuel 38:18 ("...It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him."), the third part in Proverbs 30:8 ("...feed me with my apportioned bread..."), and the fourth part in Book of Sirach 28:2 ("Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray."). "Deliver us from evil" can be compared with Psalm 119:133 ("...let no iniquity get dominion over me."). Chumaceiro says that, because the idea of God leading a human into temptation contradicts the righteousness and love of God, "Lead us not into temptation" has no counterpart in the Jewish Bible/Christian Old Testament. However, the word "πειρασμός", which is translated as "temptation", can also be translated as "test" or "trial", making evident the attitude of someone's heart, and in the Old Testament God tested Abraham, and told David, "Go, number Israel and Judah," an action that David later acknowledged as sin; and the testing of Job in the

Book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...

. Reuben Bredenhof says that the various petitions of the Lord's Prayer, as well as the doxology attached to it, have a conceptual and thematic background in the Old Testament

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of ...

. On the other hand, Andrew Wommack says that the Lord's Prayer "technically speaking... isn't even a true New Testament prayer". The only evidence or argument he offers readers, however, is to "notice that it's not prayed in the name of Jesus." In post-biblical Jewish prayer, especially Kiddushin 81a (Babylonian). "Our Father which art in heaven" (אבינו שבשמים, '' Avinu shebashamayim'') is the beginning of many Hebrew prayers. "Our Father who art in heaven" and "hallowed be thy name" are reflected in the Kaddish (where it says: "May His great name be hallowed in the world which He created, according to His will, and may He establish His Kingdom...)". "Lead us not into sin" is echoed in the " morning blessings" of Jewish prayer. A blessing said by some Jewish communities after the

evening Evening is the period of a day that begins at the end of daylight and overlaps with the beginning of night. It generally indicates the period of time when the sun is close to the horizon and comprises the periods of civil, nautical and astronom ...

'' Shema'' includes a phrase quite similar to the opening of the Lord's Prayer: "Our God in heaven, hallow thy name, and establish thy kingdom forever, and rule over us for ever and ever. Amen." None of these liturgical prayers, however, can be dated to before

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Musical settings

Various composers have incorporated the Lord's Prayer into a musical setting for utilization during

services for a variety of religious traditions as well as interfaith ceremonies. Included among them are: * 9th–10th century:

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

* 1565: Robert Stone – The Lord's Prayer * 1573: Orlando di Lasso – Pater Noster a4 * 1592: John Farmer – The Lord's Prayer * 1625:

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

– Pater Noster * 1783:

William Billings William Billings (October 7, 1746 – September 26, 1800) was an American composer and is regarded as the first American choral composer and leading member of the First New England School. Life William Billings was born in Boston, Province ...

– "Kittery" (words from Tate and Brady) * 180?:

Artemy Vedel Artemy Lukyanovich Vedel (), born Artemy Lukyanovich Vedelsky, was a List of Ukrainian composers, Ukrainian-born Russian Empire, Russian Imperial composer of Liturgy, liturgical music and military music. He produced works based on Ukrainian fo ...

- ''Otche Nash'' (Otche nash; from Liturgy) and separate work, ta okremyy pisnespiv * 1854: Josef Rheinberger – Vater Unser * 1878:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

– ''Otche Nash'' (Отче наш; Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, op. 41) * 1883: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – ''Otche Nash'' * 1906:

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

– '' Otče náš'' * 1910:

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

– ''Otche Nash'' (Отче наш; Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, op. 31) * 1910: Kyrylo Stetsenko - ''Otche Nash'' (Отче наш; from Liturgy) * 1919: Mykola Leontovych - ''Otche Nash'' (Отче наш; Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) * 1919: Emil von Reznicek – "Vater Unser im Himmel" (A Choral Fantasy with Mixed Chorus and Organ) * 1926:

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

– ''Otche Nash'' (Church Slavonic), arr. ''Pater Noster'' (Latin, ) * 1935: Albert Hay Malotte – " The Lord's Prayer" * 1973: Arnold Strals – " The Lord's Prayer" (performed by Janet Mead) * 1975: Mark Alburger – ''The Lord's Prayer'', op. 5 * 1976: Maurice Duruflé – '' Notre Père'' * 1992: John Serry Sr. – ''The Lord's Prayer'' for Organ & Chorus * 1999: Paul Field and Stephen Deal – " The Millennium Prayer" (performed by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

) * 2000:

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...

– "The Lord's Prayer" * 2005: Christopher Tin — " Baba Yetu"

In popular culture

As with other prayers, the Lord's Prayer was used by cooks to time their recipes before the spread of clocks. For example, a step could be "simmer the broth for three Lord's Prayers". Bee Wilson, 2012
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat
Penguin Books . American songwriter and arranger

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

set the text of the Lord's Prayer to an elaborate

close-harmony A Chord (music), chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are Voicing (music), arranged within a narrow range (music), range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In ...

arrangement loosely based on Malotte's melody. Wilson's group,

, would return to the piece several times throughout their recording career, most notably as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to their 1964 single " Little Saint Nick." The band Yazoo used the prayer interspersed with the lyrics of "In My Room" on the album '' Upstairs at Eric's''. In the 2002 film ''

'',

Norman Osborn Norman Virgil Osborn is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first and best-known incarnation of th ...

, as the Green Goblin, attacks and injures Aunt May while she is in the middle of saying the Lord's Prayer, causing her hospitalization. Beat Generation poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote and performed a "Loud Prayer" parodying the Lord's Prayer, one version of which was featured in the 1978 film ''The Last Waltz''. In July 2023, Filipino

and former ''Drag Den (season 1), Drag Den'' contestant Pura Luka Vega drew controversy online for posting a video of themselves dressing up as Jesus Christ and dancing to a punk rock version of ''Ama Namin'', the Filipino version of the Lord's Prayer. The video was also condemned by several Philippine politicians and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.

Images

File:St Mary's Church, Mundon, Lord's Prayer.jpg, 18th-century painting of the Lord's Prayer, on the north side of the chancel of St Mary's Church, Mundon, Essex. File:The Lord's prayer LCCN2004662429.jpg, The Lord's Prayer, ink and watercolor by John Morgan Coaley, 1889. Library of Congress. File:Lord's prayer fragment from Lindisfarne Gorpels.png, Lord's Prayer fragment from Lindisfarne Gospels, f. 37r, Latin text, translated in Northumbrian dialect of the Old English. File:Teeline-Lords-prayer.png, The text of the English Language Liturgical Consultation version of the Lord's Prayer, written in Teeline Shorthand and in Latin script for comparison. File:OLAFTAW.jpg, Lord's Prayer written in Syriac language, Syriac. File:Отче Наш Глаголица Кирилица 03.03.2020.png, Lord's Prayer, three versions from left to right: (1) from Codex Zographensis in Glagolitic script (1100s); (2) from Codex Assemanius in Glagolitic script (1000s); (3) from Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander in Bulgarian Cyrillic script (1355).

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Text

Pater Noster : a chirographic opus in one hundred and twenty-six languages, by Z. W. Wolkowski

Commentary

*
Jewish Encyclopedia
'

Jehovah's Witnesses view

Music

* {{Authority control Lord's Prayer, Biblical phrases Christian prayer Gospel of Matthew Language comparison Rosary Sayings of Jesus Sermon on the Mount