The Aaronic Blessing — The Lord Bless You and Keep You (Numbers 6:24–26)
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
may the Lord cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
may the Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.
Amen.
— Numbers 6:24–26 (BSB)
About This Prayer
This is the blessing God gave Moses for Aaron and his sons to speak over the people of Israel — the priestly blessing (in Hebrew, the Birkat Kohanim), and among the oldest prayers still in daily use anywhere in the world. Tiny silver scrolls bearing its words, dated to around 600 BC, are the oldest surviving fragments of biblical text ever found. Its three lines ask for God's protection, His grace, and His peace, all gathered in one warm image: the face of God turned toward you like sunlight. Jews and Christians alike have spoken it over congregations, over homes, and over sleeping children for some three thousand years, and a modern worship song built on these verses has carried them to millions more.
The King James Version
Many people know and love the older wording:
"The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." — Numbers 6:24–26 (KJV)
What Each Line Means
"Bless you and keep you" asks God for two things at once: His good gifts, and His guarding. To be kept is to be watched over — the same word a shepherd would use for his flock.
"Make His face shine upon you" is the Bible's picture of favor. A face that shines on you is a face that lights up when you walk in the room; the line asks that God look at you that way, and be gracious — kind beyond what is deserved.
"Lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace" asks for God's full attention, and for shalom — not merely quiet, but wholeness: things being right, inside and out.
When to Pray This
Speak this blessing over someone you love — a child at bedtime, a family member leaving home, a friend facing something hard. Many churches close worship with it as a benediction, many parents pray it nightly, and its lines fit naturally in a card or a text message when you don't know what else to say. It is a blessing meant to be given away.