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And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.
Luke 11:2 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
  • KJV And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
  • BSB So Jesus told them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.
  • NKJV So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
  • NLT Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus teaches the disciples to address God as Father and to seek first his honor, reign, and will. Prayer begins with God's glory before our needs.

Overview

This pattern, paralleling Matthew's Lord's Prayer, opens with intimate yet reverent address to God as Father. The first petitions long for the hallowing of his name, the coming of his Kingdom, and the doing of his will. Such God-centered prayer flows from the access to the Father secured through Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Matt 6:6–15But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
  • Eccl 5:2Don’t be rash with your mouth, and don’t let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
  • Ps 72:18–19Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
  • Rev 15:4Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed.”
  • Ps 11:4Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
  • 1 Th 3:11–13Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you;
  • 2 Chr 20:6and he said, “Yahweh, the God of our fathers, aren’t you God in heaven? Aren’t you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, so that no one is able to withstand you.
  • Rev 20:4I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
  • 1 Th 1:3remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
  • Phil 1:2Grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Eph 1:2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 1 Cor 1:3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Luke 10:9–11Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’
  • Ps 57:11Be exalted, God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
  • Phil 4:20Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever! Amen.
  • 2 Cor 1:2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 1 Th 1:1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Rev 11:15The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!”
  • Rom 8:15For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
  • Isa 63:16For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
  • Matt 5:16Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
  • 2 Th 1:1–2Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ:
  • Rev 19:6I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
  • Lev 22:23Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
  • Lev 10:3Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying, ‘I will show myself holy to those who come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” Aaron held his peace.
  • Col 1:2to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Ps 108:5Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth.
  • Isa 6:2–3Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.
  • Matt 3:2“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
  • Matt 10:32Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.
  • Dan 2:28but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
  • Hab 2:14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Yahweh’s glory, as the waters cover the sea.
  • Ps 103:20Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.
  • 1 Kgs 8:43hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
  • Dan 7:27The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
  • Dan 7:18But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.
  • 2 Th 2:16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
  • Hos 14:2Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
  • Isa 2:2–5It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.
  • 2 Kgs 19:19Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 11:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 11:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.