Can anyone tell me the two versions of "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep"?

Here's the one I learned:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee Lord, my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee Lord, my soul to take.

Don't know another.

joet

There's another verse which I can't remember about four angels at the corners of the bed to watch over me. Or is that
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Bless the bed that I lie on. ?

I found this one in "My Picture Book of Prayers" by Williams/Groom 1959 -


As here I lay me down to sleep
I pray Thee, God, my soul to keep;
And in the morning when I wake
Please make me good for Jesus' sake.

There are four corners to my bed,
There are four angels at my head,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Bless the bed that I lie on.

Bless my sleep that I may be
Always fresh and pure for Thee;
Bless and keep me safe and calm,
Free from trouble and from harm.

Arthur Groom

You may be thinking of the children's prayer in the opera "Hansel and Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck. Here is an English version:


Verse 1
When at night I go to sleep
Fourteen angels watch do keep;
Two my head are guarding,
Two my feet are guiding;
Two are on my right hand,
Two are on my left hand,
Two who warmly cover
Two who o'er me hover,
Two to whom 'tis given
To guide my steps to heaven.

Verse 2
Sleeping sofly, then it seems
Heaven enters in my dreams;
Angels hover round me,
Whisp'ring they have found me;
Two are sweetly singing,
Two are garlands bringing,
Strewing me with roses
As my soul reposes.
God will not forsake me
When dawn at last will wake me.

The version I learned was

Now I lay me down to sleep;
A bag of peanuts at my feet.
If I should die before I wake,
Give them to my brother, Jake.

pam

That one is certainly better than the one that frightens kids by saying they might die while sleeping!

It might also be the solution to a murder mystery. After all, if Jake really wants those peanuts...............

pam

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.

All your answers were very good. But my 3-year old granddaughter is saying one that we've never heard and don't know where she heard it. It goes "Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep.
Your love will guide me through the night
And bless me in the morning light."
If anyone has heard of this one, please let me know where it came from and if there are any more verses.

I was visiting a Methodist church this morning for the Rainbows' Mothering Sunday service and the locals sang happy birthday to one of their fellow parishioners with a second verse.

Happy birthday to you,
To Jesus stay true.
May God's love always keep you.
Happy birthday to you.


I'd never heard that verse before.

The one I learned from a series of children's books, about two very ordinary children who did very ordinary things, and with whom I was unaccountably fascinated at about the age of 7 (NOT Janet and John - older than that) was:

Four angels round my bed
Two at my feet, two at my head
One to watch and one to pray
Two to bear my soul away
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Bless the bed that I lie on.

Amen

It didn't seem associated with Now I lay me down to sleep, which I learned as Campy quoted it.

I was never afraid of dying in the night - I always assumed they were keeping my soul safe while my mind went to dreamland, and would return it in the morning! It's worked so far.