Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my Soul to keep[;]
If I should die before I 'wake,
I pray the Lord my Soul to take.
Other versions
Grace Bridges, 1932:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my lord my soul to keep,
In the morn when I awake
Please teach me the path of life to take.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
His Love to guard me through the night,
And wake me in the morning's light amen.[3]
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Please angels watch me through the night,
And keep me safe till morning light.[3]
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Angels watch me through the night,
And wake me with the morning light.
Amen[4]
Now I wake to see the light,
As God has kept me through the night;
And now I lift my voice to pray,
That Thou wilt keep me through the day.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
See me safely through the night,
And wake me with the morning light. Amen.
It is sometimes combined with the "Black Paternoster", one version of which goes:[5]
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on.
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round my head;
One to watch and one to pray
And two to bear my soul away.
Sometimes the prayer ends with, “and this I ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”[6]
In popular culture
Music
American thrash metal band Megadeth uses this prayer in their 1991 song "Go to Hell".
The final verse of Ron Miller's "Heaven Help Us All", first recorded and released by Stevie Wonder in 1970: "Now I lay me down before I go to sleep/ In a troubled world I pray the Lord to keep/ Keep hatred from the mighty/ And the mighty from the small/ Heaven help us all"
The books in Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series are named from the prayer, and deviations thereof.
In Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms, the protagonist misremembers the prayer as “In bed I lay me down my head” while sleepy and delirious in Chapter 18.
Film and television
In Poltergeist (1982), Carol Anne recites this prayer when she and her mother bury her pet canary in their garden.[9]
In The Simpsons episode "Lisa's First Word" (1992), Homer builds a terrifying clown bed for a young Bart. In Bart's imagination, the clown says 'if you should die before you wake.'
In Bad Times at the El Royale (2018), Laramie Seymour Sullivan recites this prayer to his daughter on the phone before bedtime.
In Supernatural episode "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (2006), the episode opens with a young girl reciting the prayer before bed.
Theatre
In The Color Purple (2005 musical), a variation of the prayer is used in the songs Our Prayer (sung by sisters Celie and Nettie) and Big Dog (sung by Celie alone).