A Question About Fasting

33 And they said to him, (A)“The disciples of John (B)fast often and (C)offer prayers, (D)and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” 34 And Jesus said to them, (E)“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 (F)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and (G)then they will fast in those days.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old (H)wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 5:39 Some manuscripts better

On Fasting

33 And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and make prayers—likewise also the disciples[a] of the Pharisees—but yours are eating and drinking!” 34 So he[b] said[c] to them, “You are not able to make the bridegroom’s attendants[d] fast as long as the bridegroom is with them, are you?[e] 35 But days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” 36 And he also told a parable to them: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and[f] puts it[g] on an old garment. Otherwise, he will have torn the new also, and the old will not match the patch that is from the new. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the wineskins, and it will be spilled and the wineskins will be destroyed. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins. 39 And no one after[h] drinking old wine[i] wants new, because he says, ‘The old is just fine!’”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 5:33 The word “disciples” is not in the Greek text but is implied
  2. Luke 5:34 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  3. Luke 5:34 Some manuscripts have “So Jesus said”
  4. Luke 5:34 Literally “sons of the bridal chamber”
  5. Luke 5:34 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “are you
  6. Luke 5:36 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“tears”) has been translated as a finite verb
  7. Luke 5:36 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  8. Luke 5:39 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“drinking”) which is understood as temporal
  9. Luke 5:39 The word “wine” is not in the Greek text but is implied