Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Perhaps the earliest version was written by George Wheler in his 1698 book The Protestant Monastery, which reads:{{Cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Sir George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E3RjAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22i+lay+me+down+to+sleep%22&pg=PA294 |title=The Protestant Monastery: Or Christian Oeconomicks. Containing Directions for the Religious Conduct of a Family. (Hymns Suited to the Several Hours of Prayers. Short Tunes to Chant Several of the Hymns.). |date=1698 |pages=294 |language=en}}

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:[http://cdlrsandbox.org/neprimer/versiontwopages/028.html The New England Primer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510095554/http://cdlrsandbox.org/neprimer/versiontwopages/028.html |date=10 May 2017 }}, 1750 ed., p. 23.

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.

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.

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.

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:I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), {{ISBN|0-19-860088-7}}, 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.

Sometimes the prayer ends with, “and this I ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”{{Cite web |title=Catholic Prayer Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep |url=https://www.catholicprayer.ca/Prayers/Now-I-Lay-Me-Down-To-Sleep.html |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=www.catholicprayer.ca}}

Music

• Art Garfunkel performed the song live during his 2016–2020 In Close-Up tour as the encore song.{{cite web |url=https://www.setlist.fm/search?artist=1bd64dac&tour=33d740a9 |title=In Close-Up tour |date= August 2024 |website=setlist.fm |accessdate= 21 August 2024}}
• Part of the prayer can be heard in the background of Snoop Dogg's song Murder Was the Case from his 1993 4x Platinum debut album Doggystyle.
• Belgian hardcore DJ DRS uses this prayer in the introduction of his Thunderdome set in 2022.{{Citation |title=Thunderdome 2022 {{!}} DRS |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBWgBKna-0k |language=en |access-date=2023-02-10}}
• Rapper JPEGMafia uses lines from this prayer in the chorus of his song "the 27 club" from his 2016 album Black Ben Carson.{{Cite web |title=JPEGMafia - the 27 club {{!}} Genius| url=https://genius.com/Jpegmafia-the-27-club-lyrics}}
• American heavy metal band Metallica uses the whole prayer in their hit song "Enter Sandman" from their 1991 album Metallica.
• The Finnish gothic rock group HIM incorporates a modified version of the prayer in their song from 2003, Buried Alive by Love.
• Rapper JID takes from the first two lines and incorporates them into the first verse of "Kody Blu 31" from his 2022 album The Forever Story.
• Singer Halsey uses The New England Primer version of the prayer in the intro portion of their 2019 single "Nightmare".{{Citation |title=Halsey – Nightmare |url=https://genius.com/Halsey-nightmare-lyrics |access-date=2024-11-08}}
• Singer Kid Cudi uses part of the The New England Primer version in his A Kid Named Cudi album song "The Prayer".{{Citation |title=Kid Cudi - The Prayer |url=https://genius.com/Kid-cudi-the-prayer-lyrics |access-date=2025-04-29}}
• XXXTentacion incorporates a modified version of the first two lines of this prayer in the closer of his ? album, "Before I Close My Eyes".{{Citation |title=XXXTENTACION – before I close my eyes |url=https://genius.com/Xxxtentacion-before-i-close-my-eyes-lyrics |access-date=2024-12-11}}
• Canadian singer the Weeknd references this prayer in his song "Big Sleep" from his 2025 album Hurry Up Tomorrow, where featured artist Giorgio Moroder recites the lines "Now I lay me down to sleep, pray the Lord my soul to keep, angels watch me through the night, wake me up with light" in the second verse.{{Citation |title=The Weeknd – Big Sleep |url=https://genius.com/The-weeknd-big-sleep-lyrics |access-date=2024-12-11}}

Film and television

• In Poltergeist (1982), Carol Anne recites this prayer when she and her mother bury her pet canary in their garden.{{Cite web |title=Poltergeist (1982 film) Quotes {{!}} IMDB| website=IMDb| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084516/quotes/qt1799742}}

• {{annotated link|Christian child's prayer}}
• Adon Olam - a Jewish prayer bearing some similarities

{{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&dq=lay&pg=PA103}}

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Category:Christian prayer

Category:Sleep

Category:Christianity and children