Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Now I lay me down to sleep is a classic children's bedtime prayer from the 18th century.

Text

Perhaps the earliest version was written by George Wheler in his 1698 book ''The Protestant Monastery'', which reads:

''Upon lying down, and going to ſleep.''

Here I lay me down to ſleep.
To thee, O Lord, I give my Soul to keep,
Wake I ever, Or, Wake I never;
To thee O Lord, I give my Soul to keep for ever.

A later version printed in ''The New England Primer'' goes:

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

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.
Grace Bridges 1932

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.

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.

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

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.

It is sometimes combined with the " Black Paternoster", one version of which goes:I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), , pp. 357–60.

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.

In popular culture

* American heavy metal band Megadeth uses this prayer in their song "Go to Hell".
* American thrash metal band Metallica uses this prayer in the song "Enter Sandman".
* Bob Dylan uses "I pray the Lord my soul to keep" in the song " Roll on John" (2012).
* Rapper Snoop Dogg uses this prayer in his song "Murder Was the Case".
* Rapper Sean Combs uses this prayer in The Notorious B.I.G.'s song "Ready to Die", from his album of the same name.
* Rapper Kid Cudi uses this prayer in the chorus of the song "The Prayer".
* Rapper G-Eazy uses this prayer in his song " Me, Myself & I".
* Blackbear uses the prayer "I pray the Lord my soul to keep" in his song " Do Re Mi"
* Rapper Kendrick Lamar uses the line "If I should die before I wake" in the hook of the song 'The Relevant'
* Rapper XXXTentacion rewrites this prayer in his song "Before I Close My Eyes".
* Singer-songwriter Halsey uses this prayer in the opening lines of the song "Nightmare".
* Rapper JID uses the prayer in the opening verse of his song "Kody Blu 31".
* Singer Jordin Sparks uses the line "If I should die before I wake" as the first lines in her song "No Air".
* American Industrial Rock band Sister Machine Gun uses this prayer in the song "Sins of the Flesh".
* The books in Rachel Vincent'
Soul Screamers series
are named from the prayer, and deviations thereof.
* In ''Poltergeist'', Carol Anne recites this prayer when she and Diane, Carol Anne's mother, bury her pet canary in their garden.
* In ''Bad Times at the El Royale'', Laramie Seymour Sullivan recites this prayer to his daughter on the phone before bedtime.
* In ‘’ Nightmare On Elm Street’’, when Nancy goes to bed to her final battle with Freddy Krueger .
* In Altar Boyz, during La Vida Eternal

See also

*
* Adon Olam - a Jewish prayer bearing some similarities

References

{{reflist , refs=
{{citation , year=1994 , title = Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Action Prayers, Poems, and Songs for Bedtime , author1=Debbie Trafton O'Neal , author2=Nancy Munger , publisher=Augsburg Books , isbn=978-0-8066-2602-4 , page=6 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOwi-B9IhKgC&pg=PA6
{{citation , year=2006 , title = Encountering Ecclesiastes: a book for our time , author1=James Limburg , publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing , isbn=978-0-8028-3047-0 , page=103 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2qBfPnB4VAC&pg=PA103&dq=lay

Christian prayer
sleep