Lord’s Prayer (Original Recorded Text)

Jesus originally spoke this prayer in Galilean Aramaic, but the earliest written record preserved in history comes from the Koine Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 6:9–13).

The Original Recorded Text (Koine Greek)

Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (Pater hēmōn ho en tois ouranois) Our Father in the heavens,

ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· (hagiasthētō to onoma sou) Hallowed be your name;

ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· (elthetō hē basileia sou) Your kingdom come;

γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς· (genēthētō to thelēma sou, hōs en ouranō kai epi gēs) Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth;

τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον· (ton arton hēmōn ton epiousion dos hēmin sēmeron) Give us today our daily bread;

καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν· (kai aphes hēmin ta opheilēmata hēmōn, hōs kai hēmeis aphēkamen tois opheiletais hēmōn) And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors;

καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. (kai mē eisenenkēs hēmas eis peirasmon, alla rhusai hēmas apo tou ponērou) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Line-by-Line Breakdown (“Prompts” & Petitions)

The Lord’s Prayer is structured into an invocation followed by six distinct petitions — three directed toward God’s honor and three toward human needs.

The Invocation: “Our Father in heaven”

• Aramaic root: Abba (an intimate, personal word for father, akin to “Dear Father” or “Dad”).
• Meaning: Replaces distant, terrifying views of God with intimate family connection. Praying Our rather than My immediately establishes community — you are praying as part of a collective human family, not an isolated individual.

1. “Hallowed be your name”

• Meaning: “Hallowed” comes from the Greek hagiastheto, meaning “set apart as holy” or “revered.”
• The intent: It asks that God’s identity and character be held in deep respect across the world, beginning with the person praying.

2. “Your kingdom come”

• Meaning: “Kingdom” (basileia) in first-century thought meant the active reign and authority of God rather than a geographic location.
• The intent: A prayer for justice, peace, and divine renewal to sweep away human oppression, greed, and broken political systems.

3. “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

• Meaning: A call for alignment between heaven (where God’s harmony is unopposed) and earth (where human rebellion creates chaos).
• The intent: An explicit act of surrender, choosing God’s overarching purpose above personal self-interest or political power.

4. “Give us this day our daily bread”

• Meaning: The Greek word for “daily” (epiousios) is extremely rare in ancient literature; it literally translates to “bread for the coming day” or “necessary existence.”
• The intent: A request for humble, immediate trust. It isn’t a prayer for hoarding wealth, but a request for basic daily sustenance — echoing the ancient desert story where manna was gathered one day at a time.

5. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”

• Meaning: The Greek word opheilemata specifically means monetary debts or moral obligations owed.
• The intent: It links receiving divine mercy directly to extending mercy to others. In the original cultural setting, debt relief was central to economic survival; spiritually, it emphasizes that holding grudges creates a barrier to receiving peace.

6. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

• Meaning: “Temptation” (peirasmon) is better translated as “hard testing,” “trial,” or “crisis.” “Evil” (ponērou) can refer either to the concept of evil or “the evil one.”
• The intent: A realistic admission of human vulnerability. It asks for protection from facing trials that exceed our moral strength and deliverance from malicious forces.

Note on the traditional ending: The famous closing line — “For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen” — was added in early church liturgical practice (found in early texts like the 1st-century Didache) to give public recitations a formal praise dynamic, though it was not part of the earliest Gospel manuscripts.