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?”

¹² I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’^(A)

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.”

¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.^[a]

Concerning Fasting

¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

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) 34} Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding attendants fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? ³⁵ The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”^{(B) 36} He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise, not only will one tear the new garment, but the piece from the new will not match the old garment. ³⁷ Similarly, no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and will spill out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.^{[a] 39} And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine but says, ‘The old is good.’ ”^[b]

³ Not knowing the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.^(A)

⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.^(A)