Avinu Malkeinu: Our Father, Our King

Avinu Malkeinu means “Our Father, Our King.” It is a Jewish prayer of mercy and repentance, most often recited during Rosh Hashanah, the Ten Days of Awe, Yom Kippur, and also on some fast days in Jewish tradition.

The words hold two truths together. God is Father, near enough to hear His children. God is King, holy and just, the One before whom every heart is open.

What Avinu Malkeinu is, and when it is said

Avinu Malkeinu is not one single line in every prayer book. In many Jewish communities it is a longer litany, with each line beginning, “Avinu Malkeinu,” followed by a request for forgiveness, healing, blessing, life, or deliverance. The text below is the well-known closing plea, often sung slowly and simply, and it carries the heart of the whole prayer.

It is especially associated with the High Holy Days. On Rosh Hashanah, Israel stands before God the King. On Yom Kippur, Israel seeks mercy, cleansing, and forgiveness. Between them are the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, a season for repentance, confession, reconciliation, and returning to the Lord.

If you are learning the Jewish prayers for the first time, this is a good one to begin with because it is short and honest. It does not try to impress God. It asks Him for grace because we need grace.

You may also want to read Kol Nidre, the prayer associated with Yom Kippur, or our page on Yom Kippur for more context on the day when this prayer is often heard.

Where Avinu Malkeinu comes from

Jewish tradition connects this prayer with Rabbi Akiva, a great sage of the late first and early second century. The Babylonian Talmud, in Ta’anit 25b, tells a story of a severe drought. Rabbi Eliezer prayed many prayers, but rain did not come. Rabbi Akiva then prayed, “Our Father, our King, we have sinned before You. Our Father, our King, we have no king but You,” and rain fell.

This story comes to us through the Talmud, compiled centuries after Rabbi Akiva lived. We do not have a first-century prayer book with today’s full Avinu Malkeinu in it. The synagogue liturgy developed over time.

But the themes are much older. The Tanakh calls God Father and King. Israel prayed for mercy long before the synagogue melodies we know today. That is why Avinu Malkeinu feels ancient, even where its exact wording belongs to later Jewish liturgy.

Hebrew

אָבִֽינוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ חָנֵּֽנוּ וַעֲנֵֽנוּ כִּי אֵין בָּֽנוּ מַעֲשִׂים
עֲשֵׂה עִמָּֽנוּ צְדָקָה וָחֶֽסֶד וְהוֹשִׁיעֵֽנוּ

Transliteration

Avinu malkenu chonenu va'anenu ki ein banu ma'asim
Aseh immanu tzedakah vachesed vehoshi'enu

English translation

Our Father, our King, be gracious to us and answer us, though we have no worthy deeds.
Deal with us in righteousness and kindness, and save us.

“Our Father, our King”

The first two Hebrew words are the whole doorway into the prayer. Avinu means “our Father.” Malkeinu means “our King.” Jewish prayer often teaches by holding two truths together that we might otherwise separate.

If God is only King in our minds, we may become afraid to come near. If God is only Father in our minds, we may forget His holiness. Avinu Malkeinu teaches reverence without distance, and nearness without casualness.

The Tanakh speaks this way. Isaiah cries, “You, O LORD, are our Father” (Isaiah 63:16), and again, “O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter” (Isaiah 64:8). The Psalms proclaim God’s kingship: “For God is the King of all the earth” (Psalm 47:7), and “the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods” (Psalm 95:3).

So when we pray Avinu Malkeinu, we are not inventing a new way to address God. We are entering a biblical way of speaking to Him.

“Be gracious to us and answer us”

The prayer does not begin with an explanation. It begins with need. “Be gracious to us and answer us.”

Grace is not a foreign idea brought into the Bible late. The God of Israel revealed Himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). That verse stands behind so much Jewish prayer that, once you see it, you start hearing it everywhere.

Avinu Malkeinu asks God to answer, but not because we have forced His hand. We ask Him to answer because He is gracious. That is a very different kind of prayer.

“Though we have no worthy deeds”

This line is hard for modern people, but it is honest. “Ki ein banu ma’asim,” because there are no deeds in us, means we are not standing before God with a list of achievements that obligates Him to bless us.

This does not mean obedience does not matter. The Torah calls Israel to choose life, love the Lord, and walk in His ways (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). The prophets call for justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Yeshua (Jesus) also calls His disciples to obey God from the heart.

But when a sinner asks for mercy, he does not come waving his good works like a receipt. He comes empty-handed. That is the wisdom of the tax collector in Yeshua’s parable: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Rabbi Yeshua says that man went home justified rather than the one who boasted in himself (Luke 18:14).

“Righteousness and kindness”

The English translation says, “Deal with us in righteousness and kindness.” The Hebrew words are tzedakah and chesed.

Tzedakah can mean righteousness, justice, or charitable action. It is not only a private moral quality. It is what is right, faithful, and life-giving in relationship. Chesed is covenant mercy, loyal love, kindness that does not abandon.

That pairing matters. We are not asking God to ignore righteousness. We are asking Him to act toward us in a way that is both right and merciful. The God of the Bible does not have to choose between justice and compassion. He is full of both.

The last word, vehoshi’enu, means “and save us.” It is related to the Hebrew root for salvation. The name Yeshua also comes from this world of meaning, salvation and deliverance. For a believer in Yeshua, that last word naturally opens the heart toward the One through whom God has brought redemption.

The first-century connection

The exact synagogue form of Avinu Malkeinu is later than the first century, but its language belongs to the Bible and to the Jewish prayer world that shaped Yeshua and the apostles.

When Yeshua taught His disciples to pray, He began, “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). That is not a break from Judaism. It is Jewish prayer, clear and direct. He also taught them to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10), placing the Father’s name and the Father’s reign together.

The apostles continued to speak this way. Paul writes that believers have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). He also calls God “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). Father and King are still held together.

The Jewish context of Scripture is not decoration. The Bible was written in that world. When we hear Avinu Malkeinu, we are listening to a prayer that fits naturally beside the Psalms, the prophets, the synagogue, and the teaching of Rabbi Yeshua.

For more on daily Jewish prayer language, see the Shema and the Amida, the Standing Prayer. Both help show the prayer setting that shaped Jewish disciples in the first century.

How to pray Avinu Malkeinu at home

You do not have to pretend to be Jewish to pray this prayer. A Christian can receive it as a biblical cry for mercy from the people of Israel, and pray it with humility and gratitude. It is not magic, and it is not a performance. It is a way to tell the truth before God.

You can pray it during the season of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. You can also pray it when your family needs mercy, when you are confessing sin, when someone is sick, or when you do not know what else to say.

At home, read the English first so everyone understands it. Then read the transliteration slowly. If your family is able, try the Hebrew line by line. After the prayer, leave room for confession, either aloud or in silence.

A simple family practice could be this:

1. Read Psalm 51:1-2.
2. Pray Avinu Malkeinu together.
3. Each person silently asks God for mercy in one specific area.
4. End with the words of Yeshua from Matthew 6:9-13.

Sit with the first two words for a moment: Avinu Malkeinu. Where do you need to come to God as a child today, and where do you need to bow before Him as King?

Questions people ask

What does Avinu Malkeinu mean?

Avinu Malkeinu means “Our Father, Our King.” The prayer addresses God as both a loving Father and a righteous King, asking Him for mercy, kindness, and salvation.

When is the Avinu Malkeinu prayer recited?

Avinu Malkeinu is most often recited during Rosh Hashanah, the Ten Days of Awe, and Yom Kippur. In many Jewish communities it is also said on public fast days and other times of repentance.

Is this the full Avinu Malkeinu prayer?

Many prayer books contain a longer Avinu Malkeinu litany with many requests. The text on this page is the well-known closing plea, often sung as the heart of the prayer.

What is the Avinu Malkeinu transliteration?

The transliteration given here is: “Avinu malkenu chonenu va'anenu ki ein banu ma'asim / Aseh immanu tzedakah vachesed vehoshi'enu.” It helps readers pray the Hebrew words even if they do not read Hebrew letters.

Can Christians pray Avinu Malkeinu?

Yes. A believer in Yeshua can pray Avinu Malkeinu as a biblical cry for mercy, with respect for its Jewish setting. Its themes of God as Father, God as King, repentance, grace, and salvation are all found in Scripture.