A Question about Fasting

18 Now(A) John’s(B) disciples(C) and the Pharisees[a](D) were fasting.(E) People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom(F) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time[b] will come(G) when the groom will be taken away from them,(H) and then they will fast(I) on that day. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,(J) and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine(K) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst(L) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2:18 Other mss read The disciples of John and of the Pharisees
  2. 2:20 Or the days

Jesus Questioned About Fasting(A)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.(B) Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,(C) and on that day they will fast.

21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

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