History of the Text
NRSV Matthew 6: 9-13…Pray then in this way: Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be your name.10Your
kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.11Give us this day our daily
bread.12And forgive
us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13And do not bring us to the time of trial, but
rescue us from the evil one….Luke 11: 2-4: He said to them, ‘When you pray,
say: Father,* hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come. *3 Give us each day our daily bread. *4 And forgive us our sins, for
we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time
of trial.’…
KJV of Matthew: After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father
which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our
daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 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. (This
ending draws from the Didache, or teachings text from the late first century or
early second century].
Scholars Version of Matthew’s version: Instead, you should
pray like this: Our Father in the heavens, your name be revered. Impose your
imperial rule, enact your will on earth as you have in heaven. Provide us with
the bread we need for today. Forgive our debts to the extent that we have
forgiven those in debt to us. And please don't subject us to test after test,
but rescue us from the evil one. [the Our Father is the only part that received
a red text decision by the Scholars, meaning it was most likely said by Jesus;
in the heavens is black, or Jesus did not say it, it belongs to later
tradition; your name be revered; impose your imperial rule is pink, meaning
Jesus probably said something like this; enact your will on earth as you have
in heaven is gray, meaning Jesus didn’t say it but the ideas are close to his; Provide
us with the bread we need for today. Forgive our debts to the extent that we
have forgiven those in debt to us, is pink; please don't subject us to test after test is gray. but
rescue us from the evil one, is black.
From Dr. Amy-Jill
Levine, a Jewish professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt Divinity School and
author:
From Amy-Jill Levine:
Lord's Prayer ... (Matthew 6:9-13) .. In Jewish thought, the designation of the
deity as "Father" develops substantially during the Second Temple period,
that is after the return from the Babylonian exile in 538 BCE. ... Malachi 2:10
... This understanding of God as father continues in synagogues today, where
Jews speak of and to Av ha-rachamim ("Merciful Father") as well as
Avinu malkenu "Our Father, our King") and proclaim, Hu avinu
("He is our Father). pp. 41-43
... the translation "Daddy" is incorrect. The term means
"father", and is not an expression associated primarily with little
children. ... Even Joachim Jeremias, the scholar who first proposed rthe
translation "Daddy" along with its unique attribution to Jesus,
retracted his thesis and called it "A piece of inadmissable naivete."
p. 43 By speaking of the "Father in heaven," Jesus thus insists that
Rome is not
the "true" father. p. 45 "Hallowed be your name," is a
component of most Jewish prayers. p. 45
"Your Kingdomn come" correlates in Jewish tradition with the
expression olam ha-bah, "the world to come." The "world to
come" is the messianic age. a time distinguished from and infinitely
better than "this world" (olam ha-zeh). Jesus's plea for a divine
kingdom to come has a conspicuous
political edge. The prayer seeks the divine kingdom, not the one of Caesar or
his lackeys ... p. 46
Perhaps the best translatiopm, then, would be, "Give us tomorrow's bread today."
for that makes the most sense in a first-century Jewish setting. Jewish texts
speak of the olam ha-bah, the world to come, as a glorious banquet. Isaiah 25:6
.... In the church, taste of the messianic age is what should be encountered at
the Eucharist (Communion), at the "Lord's table." "Give us
tomorrow's bread today" therefore means "Bring about your rule, when
we can eat at the messianic banquet." p. 48
As for "Forgive us our trespasses," the original was most likely
"Forgive us our debts" ... It goes directly to the pocketbook; it
says "Don't hold a debt. if someone needs, give." This is a call for
economic justice. p. 49 The Greek phrase usually translated "Lead us not
into temptation" ios better rendered "Do not bring us to the
test." .... thus means "Do not put us in a situation where we might
be tempted to deny our faith or morals." ... "Evil" in the line
"but rescue us from evil" is more precisely "the evil one"
... on the colloquial level, the couplet may be seen as saying "Look, God,
I don't need testing from you, and I certainly don't need being brought to the
test by Satan." pp.50-51
The prayer is not "to Jesus"; it says nothing uniquely Christian; and
it fits neatly within Jewish piety. p. 51
She says that she doesn’t advocate for its use now in the
synagogue because of its tradition within the Christian churches, but both the
church and the synagogue should recognize its strong historical Jewish roots.
Alternative versions of the Lord’s Prayer
Collected from various sources
March 2010
(THE MESSAGE, 2002)
Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world
right; Do what's best -- As above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with
you and forgiving others. You're in charge!
You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes.
Yes. Yes.
FROM 'HUMAN RITES' BY WARD AND WILD.
"Beloved, our Father and Mother, in whom is heaven,
hallowed be your name, followed be your royal way, done be your will and rule,
throughout the whole creation. With the bread we need for today,
feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive
us. In times of temptation and test, Strengthen us. From trials too great to
endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, Now
and forever. Amen."
NEW ZEALAND PRAYER BOOK
Eternal Spirit Earth-Maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, source
of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all. Loving God, in
whom is heaven. The hallowing of your name echoes through the universe! The way
of your justice be followed by the peoples of the earth! Your heavenly will be
done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our
hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts
we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and test, spare
us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of
the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.
MARK BERRY – EMERGING CHURCH MOVEMENT
O Breathing Life, your Name shines everywhere! Release a
space to plant your Presence here. Imagine your possibilities now. Embody your
desire in every light and form. Grow through us this moment's bread and wisdom.
Untie the knots of failure binding us, as we release the strands we hold of
others' faults. Help us not forget our Source, Yet free us from not being in
the Present. From you arises every Vision, Power and Song from gathering to
gathering. Amen - May our future actions grow from here!
PARKER J. PALMER
Heavenly Father, heavenly Mother, Holy and blessed is your
true name. We pray for your reign of peace to come, We pray that your good will
be done, Let heaven and earth become one. Give us this day the bread we need,
Give it to those who have none. Let forgiveness flow like a river between us,
From each one to each one. Lead us to holy innocence Beyond the evil of our
days — Come swiftly Mother, Father, come. For yours is the power and the glory
and the mercy: Forever your name is All in One. RETRANSLATION (FROM THE
ARAMAIC)
O Breathing Life, your Name shines everywhere!
Release a space to plant your Presence here. Imagine your possibilities now.
Embody your desire in every light and form. Grow through us this moment's bread
and wisdom. Untie the knots of failure binding us, as we release the strands we
hold of others' faults. Help us not forget our Source, Yet free us from not
being in the Present. From you arises every Vision, Power and Song from
gathering to gathering. Amen - May our future actions grow from here!
LORD’S PRAYER IN TIME OF WAR MS. WENDY LYONS
Our Father, who art in heaven, slow to anger, and of great
mercy, lover of all peoples of the earth, Hallowed be thy Name. Remind
us that "all the nations are as nothing before thee," their
governments but a shadow of passing age; Thy kingdom come on earth. Grant
to thy children throughout the world, and especially to the leaders of the
nations, the gift of prayerful thought and thoughtful prayer; that following
the example of our Lord, we may discern what is right, and do it; Thy will
be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Help us to protect and to provide for
all who are hungry and homeless, especially those who are deprived of food and
shelter, family and friends, by the tragedy of war; Give us this day our
daily bread. Forgive us for neglecting to "seek peace and pursue
it," and finding ourselves in each new crisis, more ready to make war than
to make peace. "We have not loved thee with our whole heart; we have not
loved our neighbors as ourselves"; Forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us. Let us not seek revenge, but
reconciliation; Let us not delight in victory, but in justice; Let us not give
ourselves up to pride, but to prayer; Lead us not into temptation. Be
present to all thy children ravaged by war: Be present to those who are killing
and to those who are being killed; Be present to the loved ones of those who
are killing and to the loved ones of those who are being killed; Deliver us
from evil. Subdue our selfish desires to possess and to dominate, and
forbid us arrogance in victory; For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and
the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
KITCHEN MOTHER VERSION
GEORGE ELLA LYON
Our Mother Who Art in the kitchen cooking us up hallowed may
we see all that is Your kingdom here
delivered into our hands Your will in children and trees
leaping out on earth as if it were Heaven.
Give us this day bread we could feed the world and snatch us
bald-headed if we try to swallow it all.
Don't forgive us till we learn it is all for giving. That
salve you've got in a pot on the back of the stove
only heals when everybody has some. And heed us not if we
believe You look like us and love us best
and gave us the True Truth with a license to kill Others
writ inside. Deliver us from this evil. for it is Yours, this kitchen we call
Universe where you stir up our favorite treat, the Milky Way, folding deep into
sweet our little sphere with its powerful glory of rainforests and oceans and
mountains in feather-boa mist forever if we don't blow it up and ever if we
don't tear it down Amen (Ah women Ah children Ah reckon She's about fed up. We
better make room at the table for everybody before She yells - OUT!
and turns our table over, before She calls it off this
banquet we've been hoarding this paradise we aim to save with bombs.)
EARTH DANCE based on the Lord's Prayer published in
Minnesota Women's Press, December 1999 Author thought to be Karen Loveland, as
member of Unity Church, Santa Rosa, CA Passed on in 2000 by Nancy Carroll
Our mother, which art the earth, Nurturing are thy ways. Thy
web of life be woven Thy way be found within, As it is all around. Thank you
this day for our daily bread and sweat and forgive us our misuse of you, as we
forgive others their misuse of us. And lead us not into exploitation, But
deliver us From lording it over you, And over each other, And over all our
other fellow creatures. For thine are the waters of life, The hills, valleys
and plains of home, The breeding, seeding, feeding ground, For now, and for as
close to forever As we will ever come. Ah, woman! Our Father, Mother, who are
in the world and surpass the world, Blessed be your presence, in us, in animals
and flowers, in still air and wind. May justice and peace dwell among us, as
you come to us. Your will be our will; You will that we be sisters and
brothers, as bread is bread, water is itself, For our hunger, for quenching of
thirst. Forgive us. We walk crookedly in the world, are perverse, and fail of
our promise. But we would be human, if only you consent to stir up our hearts.
Amen. circulated from the BC IREPM advent prayer list, 12/21/07
The Lord’s Prayer
(from Dominican Sisters Retreat, March 1993, Great Bend,
Kansas)
Prayed with alternating sides...
Side 1: then Side 2:
1: Our Father
2: Our Mother
Who art in heaven
Who are in all the earth
Hallowed be they name
Holy is your truth
Thy kingdom come
May your wisdom come
Thy will be done, on earth
Your circle be one uniting
as it is in heaven
heaven and earth
Give us this day our daily bread
Give us today a nurturing spirit
And forgive us our trespasses
Heal through us as we
as we forgive those who trespass
ourselves are healed
against us
Lead us not into temptation
Lead us into Fullness of life
But deliver us from evil
And liberate all that is good
For thine is the Kingdom,
For the Wisdom,
the power and the
glory
Presence and the Goodness are Yours
All: Now and forever
Amen.
From John Dominic Crossan: The Greatest Prayer,
Rediscovering the Revolutionary Message of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father is God as
House-Holder of the World, making sure that all households have enough; We are images of the divine householder,
collaborators for justice: “ It comes from the heart of Judaism through the
mouth of Christianity to the conscience of the earth. It is a revolutionary
manifesto and a hymn of hope. In that Abba Prayer the hallowing of God’s name
means the coming of God’s kingdom so that God’s eternal will is accomplished
“as in heaven so also in earth”. Think again of a two sided coin: one side of
the coin proclaims the divine name, divine kingdom, and divine will; the other
side announces enough human food for today; no human debt for tomorrow; and the
absence of human violence always.
Susan Warner song,
Our Father, the new revised edition:
Thy kingdom come to every nation
Thy will be done in everything we do
Lord, lead us not into temptation
And deliver us
from those who think they're You
Lord send us forth to be of service
To build the schools and dig the wells
And deliver us from the creepy preachers
With their narrow minds and very wide lapels
Lord give us strength to bring compassion
to every corner of the world
And please allow for women in the Catholic priesthood
And remind the pope that he coulda been a girl
Lord deliver us from politicians
Who drop Your name in every speech
As if they're Your best friend from high school
As if they practice what they preach
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