Thy kingdom come: thy will be done the same

In earth and heaven. Give us daily bread;

Forgive our sins as others we forgive.

Into temptation let us not be led;

Deliver us from evil while we live.

For kingdom, power, and glory must remain

For ever and for ever thine: Amen.

Here the sixty-six words of the original, according to the authorized translation of St. Matthew’s version, are reduced to fifty-nine, though the latter is fully implied in all points except two. “This day” is omitted; but, if anything, the Greek is slightly approached, for ἐπιούσιον refers rather to to-morrow than to to-day. The antithesis in “But deliver us” does not appear: if the word deliver be sacrificed, we may read, “But keep us safe.”

The subjoined metrical version of the Prayer is at least two and a half centuries old, and was written for adaptation to music in public worship:—

Our Father which in heaven art,