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.
Amen.
ECUMENICAL 1ST CENTURY AD
The Lord's Prayer
Also known as Our Father · Pater Noster
Other forms
Protestant form (with doxology)
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.
Amen.
Debts form (Reformed tradition)
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 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 and ever.
Amen.
About this prayer
The Lord's Prayer is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, recorded in Matthew's Gospel (6:9-13) and in shorter form in Luke's Gospel (11:2-4). It is the most widely said Christian prayer, used in nearly every denomination and tradition. The prayer asks for six things: that God's name be honored, that God's kingdom come, that God's will be done, that God provide daily bread, that God forgive sins as the one praying forgives others, and that God protect from temptation and evil. It opens by addressing God directly as Father, a form of address that was distinctive in 1st-century Jewish prayer and became foundational to Christian understanding of the relationship between God and the believer.
When it's said
The Lord's Prayer is said in nearly every Christian service across denominations. In Catholic Mass, it is recited near the end, before Communion. In Anglican and Lutheran services, it appears in Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and the Communion service. In Orthodox Divine Liturgy, it is said before Communion. In most Protestant services, placement varies but it typically appears near the end of the service. In private devotion it is traditionally said upon waking and before bed. It also serves as the structural foundation of the Rosary, said once before each decade of Hail Marys.
Notes on the text
The closing doxology ("For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever") does not appear in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew's Gospel and is absent from Luke entirely. It is omitted in Catholic and Orthodox liturgical forms but is standard in most Protestant versions, derived from a tradition documented in the Didache (late 1st or early 2nd century AD). The word translated "trespasses" in most liturgical forms appears as "debts" in Matthew's Greek original; Reformed and some other Protestant traditions preserve "debts" and "debtors." The two forms are theologically equivalent but liturgically distinct.
Common questions
Why do some Christians say 'trespasses' and others 'debts'?
The Greek word in Matthew 6:12 is ὀφειλήματα (opheilēmata), which means 'debts' in its literal sense of what is owed. William Tyndale's English translation in 1526 used 'trespasses' because it captured the moral sense of wrongdoing more clearly to English ears. The 1611 King James Version kept 'debts' in Matthew, but the Book of Common Prayer liturgy adopted 'trespasses,' which is why most Catholics, Anglicans, and Methodists say it that way. Presbyterians, Reformed Christians, and most Baptists say 'debts' because they follow the literal Matthew text.
Where does the 'For thine is the kingdom' ending come from?
The doxology 'For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever' is not in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew 6. It appears in the Didache, a Christian teaching document from the late 1st or early 2nd century AD, and was used liturgically in the Eastern Church from very early on. Protestant Bibles based on the Textus Receptus include it, which is why most Protestant churches say it. Catholics traditionally end the prayer at 'deliver us from evil' and add the doxology only at Mass, separated from the Lord's Prayer by an embolism.
Is the Lord's Prayer different in Matthew and Luke?
Yes. Matthew 6:9-13 contains the full version most Christians know. Luke 11:2-4 contains a shorter version that omits 'who art in heaven,' 'thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,' and 'but deliver us from evil.' Most scholars treat the two as separate occasions in Jesus's ministry rather than two records of one event. The liturgical form Christians use today is based on Matthew.
What language did Jesus pray it in?
Almost certainly Aramaic, the everyday spoken language of 1st-century Palestine. The Gospels were written in Greek and that is the form preserved in scripture. Some early Christian writers, including Eusebius, mention an Aramaic or Hebrew version of Matthew, but no manuscript survives. The Aramaic phrase often quoted as 'Abba' (Father) appears in Mark 14:36 and Romans 8:15 and is the closest we get to Jesus's original word for God in the Lord's Prayer.
Source
Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4 (New Testament). Traditional English liturgical form from the Book of Common Prayer, 1662. Public domain.
Last reviewed: May 2026 against primary source.