Since pronouncing God's personal name [[Yahweh|YHWH]] is considered sinful by the Jews, they use ''Adonai'' instead in [[prayer]]s and the reading of the [[Bible|Scripture]]s. When the Masoretes added vowel pointings to the text of the [[Old Testament|Hebrew Bible]] in the first century A.D., they gave the word YHWH the vowels of ''Adonai'', to remind the reader to say ''Adonai'' instead.