Luke 5:33
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The Question about Fasting
33 Then they said to him, “John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.”(A)
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Mark 2:18-22
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The Question about Fasting
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and people[a] came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.(A)
21 “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins, but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”[b]
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Matthew 9:14-17
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The Question about Fasting
14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,[a] but your disciples do not fast?”(A) 15 And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.(B) 16 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
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- 9.14 Other ancient authorities lack often
Luke 18:12
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12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’(A)
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Romans 10:2-3
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2 For I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not based on knowledge.(A) 3 Not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.(B)
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Acts 9:11
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11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying,(A)
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John 3:25
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25 Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew.[a]
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- 3.25 Other ancient authorities read the Jews
John 1:35
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The First Disciples of Jesus
35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,
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Luke 20:47
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47 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
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Luke 11:1
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The Lord’s Prayer
11 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”(A)
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Luke 7:34-35
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34 the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’(A) 35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
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Mark 12:40
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40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
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Matthew 23:13
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13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in you stop them.[a](A)
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Matthew 6:5-6
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Concerning Prayer
5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.(A) 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[a](B)
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- 6.6 Other ancient authorities add openly
Zechariah 7:6
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6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink only for yourselves?
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Isaiah 58:3-6
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3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.(A)
4 You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.(B)
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?(C)
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?(D)
Isaiah 1:15
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15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.(A)
Proverbs 28:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 When one will not listen to the law,
even one’s prayers are an abomination.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.