Temptation – Did the Pope really change the Lord’s Prayer?

Did the Pope really change the Lord's Prayer?  He did.  Sort of.  Pope Francis did change the translation of the Lord's Prayer.  But the original Greek remains.  Christians believe, should believe, the Bible is the inspired word of God.  The translations are not the inspired word of God.  We hope the translators do a proper job.  But a look at various translations and especially at various commentaries on the Bible tells us they often don't agree.  Even on key points like "lead us not into temptation", they don't agree. 

The verse in question has to do with temptation.  Specifically, it's allegedly about who causes temptation.  But is that really the point of that verse?  I feel like it's not.  

I'm not going to get into a detailed look at the entire Lord's Prayer, the Our Father as it's know to Catholics.  A detailed verse by verse analysis of the entire passage in Matthew, from which the prayer is derived, is available in my series on The Lord's Prayer.

What was the Lord's Prayer?

I ask the question about what the Lord's Prayer used to be as a way to get your attention, not because I believe it's really changed.  As I said at the top, the actual Greek text that records what Jesus said hasn't changed.  Only the translation of that original text has changed.  And that change is only for Catholics.  Nothing at all has changed for Protestants.  

The thing is though, depending on the Bible translation being used, lead us not into temptation isn't what many people are familiar with in the first place.  Surprised?  Some of you are.  Others are more likely surprised at lead us not into temptation being in the Bible at all.

Note: as you read verses below, Jesus' words are in red.  However, many of the translations don't actually do that.  I've added the red only to make it easier to identify the parallel text.  

lead us not into temptation

Here's the 2010 NIV translation of the passages in Matthew 6:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,  
but deliver us from the evil one.’"  ¹The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 6:9–13). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

As you see, verse 13 says lead us not into temptation and deliver us from the evil one.  That's not affected by the Pope changing the Lord's prayer.  The passage us intact in the translation.

The King James version also says lead us not into temptation.  However, rather than deliver us from the evil one, it says deliver us from evil. Actually, it appears to be a somewhat minor difference, since evil comes to us by way of the evil one.  But we'll see soon, it's a big difference.

Interestingly, the New King James did change from "evil" to "the evil one".  Apparently the translators working on the New King James thought it was necessary to make the change to God delivering us, not from evil, but from the evil one.  As I suggested, a big difference.  We'll see more shortly.

don’t let us yield to temptation

I don't normally use the New Living Translation.  Or the Good News Translation.  They can be a good starting point, especially for someone who isn't used to "church" words.  However, these translations often lose a lot of meaning.  But in this case, it's interesting to see how they translated verse 13.

First, the New Living Translation from Matthew 6:

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.  ²Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Mt 6:9–13). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

The NLT says Don't let us yield to temptation.  An interesting difference.  It doesn't say anything about whether God leads us into temptation.  Rather, it asks God to not let us yield to temptation.  Again, that's not affected by the Pope changing the Lord's prayer.

And now the Good News Translation from Matthew 6: