Lord's Prayer

The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch.

The Lord's Prayer is the best known prayer in the Christian religion. It is also known as the Our Father (the first two words of the prayer) and Pater noster (which is Latin for "Our Father"). It was not until the Protestant Reformation that it was called the Lord's Prayer.

The prayer is spoken in two places in the New Testament of the Bible (Matthew 6:9-13^[1] and Luke 11:1-4^[2]). Jesus' disciples asked him how they should pray. Jesus gave an example of how to pray to Father God.

The Bible has been translated into English several times. Therefore, there are slightly different versions that are used. The traditional and one of the best-known versions is the translation from the Book of Common Prayer (1662):

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 trespasses,

as we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Amen.

In Simple English:

Our Heavenly Father, may your name be glorified.

May your kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us our daily bread today.

And forgive us our offenses, as we forgive those who offend us.

And don't allow us to fall into temptation, but save us from evil.

Because the kingdom, power and glory are yours for ever and ever.

Amen.

[There are many similar interpretations that could be used here; some Christians are quite particular about the exact vocabulary they use, and some are not.]

Latin version

Pronunciation of the Lord's Prayer (Pater Noster) in Latin, (with an English accent)

Gregorian chant – Pater noster.

The Latin version has been very important in Church history. It is given below:

Pater noster, qui es in caelis,

sanctificetur nomen tuum.

Adveniat regnum tuum.

Fiat voluntas tua,

sicut in caelo, et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,

et dimitte nobis debita nostra,

sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.

Et ne nos inducas in tentationem,

sed libera nos a malo.

Amen.

Greek version

The best known version of the text is found in Matthew. Its Greek language original is given below:

Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·

ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·

ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·

γεννηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,

ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς·

τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·

καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,

ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν 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.

Music

Many composers have written musical settings of the prayer. Some of them are:

Luigi Cherubini, Martin Luther, Die Toten Hosen, Charles Gounod, Leoš Janáček, Franz Liszt, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Otto Nicolai, Bernardino Rizzi, Igor Stravinsky, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Leonard Bernstein (in Mass), Giuseppe Verdi and Leonardo Schiavo.

Lord's Prayer Media

The Lord's Prayer (Le Pater Noster), by James Tissot
The Lord's Prayer (Latin liturgical text) with Gregorian chant annotation*Template:Listen*
Lord's Prayer from the 1845 illuminated book of The Sermon on the Mount, designed by Owen Jones
The Lord's Prayer in Greek
Detail of the Europa Polyglotta published with Synopsis Universae Philologiae in 1741; the map gives the first phrase of the Lord's Prayer in 33 different languages of Europe
18th-century painting of the Lord's Prayer, on the north side of the chancel of St Mary's Church, Mundon, Essex.
The Lord's Prayer, ink and watercolor by John Morgan Coaley, 1889. Library of Congress.
Lord's Prayer fragment from Lindisfarne Gospels, f. 37r, Latin text, translated in Northumbrian dialect of the Old English.
The text of the English Language Liturgical Consultation version of the Lord's Prayer, written in Teeline Shorthand and in Latin script for comparison.
Lord's Prayer written in Syriac.

Other websites

Wikisource has original writing related to this article:

The Lord's Prayer

Text

Comment

References

[1] Matthew 6:9-13

[2] Luke 11:1–4

[1]

[2]