Our Father Prayer

DESCRIPTION

I decided to offer a fresh translation of the Our Father Prayer (usually called “The Lord’s Prayer”) from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6 because I think it could help others better connect with God.

It’s such an important prayer, I thought it worthy of retranslation!

It has been a while since the KJV came out—over 400 years—and that’s the version most of us use.

Also, what I’ve discovered in my studies has revealed that some nuances I see in Greek are not included in a single translation. So I’ve drawn on my own word studies, commentaries, and from personal experience to translate this. But also, you can find the pieces scattered in other translations.

This is the one I pray.

After years of praying this translation, teaching on it at my church, and listening to others’ both common and scholarly perspectives, I have landed on this translation. I translated it from Greek and have formatted it for print in case you think it’s helpful (via the HIM Publications team).

I think this translation is helpful on many levels, not least of which is the importance of understanding simply the face-value of the words we pray like “hallowed.” See the post I wrote about this, “Rethinking the Lord’s Prayer.”

This translation has been so important to me that I memorized this and use it instead of the KJV, which I’ve used my whole life until about five years ago.

I recite this version with my family. My family has learned this new version because it’s been that helpful to us! Perhaps your family will want to do that too.

You can download the downloadable print version of this prayer here and print it off on your home printer.

The mockup picture below is just an example of what it can look like. You’ll download a PDF (three sizes available), then find the frame on your own.

Here’s the translation:

Our Father

in heaven,
your name be holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.