unable to read htaccess file error

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I had to restore my site from a backup. Now I get this error: Forbidden. You don't have permission to access this resource. Server unable to read htaccess file, denying access to be safe. Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an Error Document to handle the request.

I have an .htaccess file and have attempted to change the permissions as recommended in other posts, but nothing has worked.