^18 (A)And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can ^[a]the attendants of the bridegroom fast when the bridegroom is with them? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the ^(B)days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

²¹ “No one sews ^[b]a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise ^[c]that patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John *came to Him, ^[a]asking, “Why do we and ^(A)the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can the ^[b]attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts ^[c]a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[d]the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. ¹⁷ Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

³³ And they said to Him, “^(A)The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do likewise, but Yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “Can you make the ^[a]attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? ^35 (B)But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.