The Lord's Prayer in Hip Hop

THE LORD'S PRAYER IN OLDE ENGLISH TO HIP HOP
--ON CHANGING LANGUAGE

(The following little article comes from Pete Holzman of ICTA, International Center for Technology Assessment, http://www.icta.org/. I thought I would pass it along to you. May it bring a smile to your face)

Are you comfortable with your mature grasp of the English language?

Well, ARE you?!?

Written language has been a reasonably stable foundation of our culture for centuries. Things written in English 400 years ago can still be understood.

But it gets a bit harder when we look at 600 or 1000 year old English... or 2002.

Today's youth are the "Text Generation", growing up with instant messaging on computers and cell phones... they often aren't even aware of using abbreviations and look-alike numbers instead of letters...

So giving all honor to the Author of Life, and with joy that He has such a great sense of humor, please test your English reading skills on the Lord's Prayer through the ages! (Matthew 11:9-13)

1611 King James English

Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen.
Giue us this day our daily bread.
And forgiue us our debts
as we forgiue our debters.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliuer us from euill. Amen.

1384 Middle English

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes, halwid be þi name;
þi reume or kyngdom come to þe.
Be þi wille don in herþe as it is doun in heuene.
Geue to vs today oure eche dayes bread.
And forgeue to Vs oure dettis, þat is oure synnys,
as we forgeuen tu oure dettouris,
þat is to men þat han synned in vs.
And lede Vs not into temptacion,
but delyuere Vs from euyl. Amen, so be it.

c. 1000, Old English [See ** for translation]

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum;
Si þin nama gehalgod to becume þin rice gewurþe
ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg
and forgyf us ure gyltas swa
swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
ac alys us of yfele soþlice.

2002 'leetspeak (with apologies for theological atrocities!)

YO, F4th3R, wh0 0wnz h34\/3n,
j00 r0x0rs! M4y 4|| 0wr b4s3 s0m3d4y Bl0ng t0 j00!
M4y j00 0wn 34rth juss |1|3 j00 0wn h34\/3n.
G1v3 us th1s d4y 0wr w4r3z 'n mp3z thru a ph4t |.
4nd cut us s0m3 sl4ck wh3n w3 4ct lik3 n00b l4m3rz,
juss 4s w3 g1v3 n00bz 4 l34rn1n wh3n th3y r l4m3 2 us.
Plz d0n't l3t us 0wn s0m3 p00r d00d'z b0x3n
wh3n w3'r3 2 p1ss3d Off 2 th1nk 4b0ut wh4t's r1ght 4th wr0ng,
4th 1f j00 c0uld k33p th3 m4n 0ff 0wr b4ckz, w3'd 'pr3c14t3 1t.
F0r j00 0wn 4ll 0wr b0x3n 43v3r 4n 3v3r^#*)@&$NO CARRIER

Too hard? OK, try again without the character substitutions:
(See *** for translation)

Y0, Father, who 0wnz heaven,
j00 r0ck! May all 0ur base someday belong to you!
May j00 0wn earth just like j00 0wn heaven.
Give us this day our warez and mp3z thru a phat pipe.
And cut us some slack when we act like n00b lamerz,
just as we give n00bz a learnin when they r lame 2 us.
Plz don't let us Own sOme pOOr d00d'z boxen
when we're too pissed off 2 think about what's right and wrong,
and if you could keep the man off our backs, we'd appreciate it
For j00 0wn all our b0x3n 4ever and ever, 4m3n.

Sources:
1000 [Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 140 [WSCp 11th c.]; edited by Liuzza (1994).]
1384 Wycliffe
1611 King James
2002 SlashDot.org discussion, with further personal edits

** Old English translation:

Father our thou that art in heavens
be thy name hallowed come thy kingdom be-done
thy will on earth as in heavens
our daily bread give us today
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those-who-have-sinned-against-us
and not lead thou us into temptation
but deliver us from evil. truly.

*** 2002 Leetspeak translation:

Yo - Father who owns heaven,
you rock! May all our bases someday belong to you!
May you own [have super-user access] earth
just like you own heaven.
Give us this day our warez and mp3s [software]
through a fat pipe. [Good internet service]
And cut us some slack when we act like newbie lamers,
just as we give newbies a learning when they are lame to us.
Please don't let us own some poor dude's boxen [computer]
when we're too pissed off to think about
what's right and wrong,
and if you could keep the man off our backs, we'd appreciate it.
For you own all our boxen for ever and ever. amen!

The world is changing indeed!