"Hallowed be your name" has become "let your name be holy."
The Bible Society's new trial translation of the Lord's Prayer aims to make the well-known prayer more understandable for today's Danes.
But how significant a change is it really?
Kathrine Fischer is a parish priest in Nørresundby and does not think the changes in the new wording are particularly striking.
"It actually reminds me a lot of the one we already have. So I think there is recognizability in it, and also something traditional," she says.
Theologian Margrethe Kamille Birkler, on the other hand, was surprised that the wording has been altered so much. She has, among other things, researched religious language.
"I hadn't expected they would change very much, because it is precisely an authorized translation that must match the original Greek text," she says.
"However, I don't think that 'vores far' instead of 'vor fader' is a major change, because it resembles our everyday language, and that can also be done within the Greek source text," she adds.
-----------------------
Trial Translation 2026
-----------------------
Our Father, you who are in heaven! Let your name be holy, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven!
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive others' debts against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen!
----------------
Far or Fader?
----------------
It is not long since church words were last seen in a modern language. In 2020, the Bible Society published a modern edition of the Bible to make it more understandable.
However, it was not an authorized translation, and therefore the interpretation in it was much freer than in this new Lord's Prayer, explains Margrethe Kamille Birkler.
Therefore, the Bible Society should not, for example, change "Vor Fader" to, for instance, "Vores Gud." That would deviate too much from the original prayer in the Gospel of Matthew, Margrethe Kamille Birkler points out.
But is "vores far" then too much modern everyday language? It will undoubtedly be so for some Danes, believes Kathrine Fischer.
"Maybe it can become a bit too much everyday language for some, that God becomes like the good father in the language and enters into too close a relationship," says the parish priest.
Listen to author Dy Plambeck read the first part of the new Lord's Prayer. She is a language consultant on the updated Gospel of Matthew.
Kathrine Fischer also sees no big difference between saying fader or far – and, moreover, does not see the new wording as anything negative.
"I think it hopefully supports the point, namely that it is meant that God is our father. When Jesus gives us the prayer, it is to his own father," she adds.
----------------------------------------
Confirmation Students to Analyze New Lord's Prayer
----------------------------------------
Margrethe Kamille Birkler is pleased that the Lord's Prayer has received a modern translation.
"I think it is a really good idea that religious language also reflects the people who use it," she says.
The trial translation of the Lord's Prayer is part of the work towards a new authorized Danish Bible translation in 2036, which marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Denmark, writes the Bible Society. (Photo: © Thomas Traasdahl, Ritzau Scanpix)
Kathrine Fischer also looks forward to using the new Lord's Prayer. The Bible Society calls it a trial translation, as it will not be officially released until 2036, so there is plenty of time to taste the updated wording.
"It does mean that here in Nørresundby we need to put some effort into getting the words into our mouths and feeling whether there is something that is too narrow, or something that is still too conservative or has a bad rhythm," says Kathrine Fischer.
Are you going to start using the new Lord's Prayer now?
"Well, I have the world's best test group in the form of confirmation students. I have them tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, so they will have to give their take on an analysis and talk about what the differences are."
See all authorized versions of the Lord's Prayer from the past 500 years here:
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.