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Matthew 6:16
New Living Translation
Matthew 6:16
New Living Translation
16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.
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Matthew 6:16
New International Version
Matthew 6:16
New International Version
Fasting
16 “When you fast,(A) do not look somber(B) as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Isaiah 58:3-5
New Living Translation
Isaiah 58:3-5
New Living Translation
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?
Isaiah 58:3-5
New International Version
Isaiah 58:3-5
New International Version
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’(A) they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled(B) ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’(C)
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please(D)
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,(E)
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard(F) on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast(G) I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble(H) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(I)
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(J)
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
Matthew 9:14-15
New Living Translation
Matthew 9:14-15
New Living Translation
A Discussion about Fasting
14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast[a] like we do and the Pharisees do?”
15 Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
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- 9:14 Some manuscripts read fast often.
Matthew 9:14-15
New International Version
Matthew 9:14-15
New International Version
Jesus Questioned About Fasting(A)
14 Then John’s(B) disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often,(C) but your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?(D) The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.(E)
Nehemiah 1:4
New Living Translation
Nehemiah 1:4
New Living Translation
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
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Nehemiah 1:4
New International Version
Nehemiah 1:4
New International Version
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.(A) For some days I mourned and fasted(B) and prayed before the God of heaven.
Luke 18:12
New Living Translation
Luke 18:12
New Living Translation
12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
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Luke 18:12
New International Version
Luke 18:12
New International Version
Daniel 9:3
New Living Translation
Daniel 9:3
New Living Translation
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
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Daniel 9:3
New International Version
Daniel 9:3
New International Version
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,(A) and in sackcloth and ashes.(B)
Mark 2:18
New Living Translation
Mark 2:18
New Living Translation
A Discussion about Fasting
18 Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do?”
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Mark 2:18
New International Version
Mark 2:18
New International Version
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?”
Psalm 69:10
New International Version
Psalm 69:10
New International Version
10 When I weep and fast,(A)
I must endure scorn;
Psalm 35:13
New Living Translation
Psalm 35:13
New Living Translation
13 Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them.
I denied myself by fasting for them,
but my prayers returned unanswered.
Psalm 35:13
New International Version
Psalm 35:13
New International Version
Acts 14:23
New Living Translation
Acts 14:23
New Living Translation
23 Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
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Acts 14:23
New International Version
Acts 14:23
New International Version
23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a](A) for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting,(B) committed them to the Lord,(C) in whom they had put their trust.
Footnotes
- Acts 14:23 Or Barnabas ordained elders; or Barnabas had elders elected
Matthew 6:5
New Living Translation
Matthew 6:5
New Living Translation
Teaching about Prayer and Fasting
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.
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Matthew 6:5
New International Version
Matthew 6:5
New International Version
Prayer(A)
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing(B) in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Matthew 6:2
New Living Translation
Matthew 6:2
New Living Translation
2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.
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Matthew 6:2
New International Version
Matthew 6:2
New International Version
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Zechariah 7:3-5
New Living Translation
Zechariah 7:3-5
New Living Translation
3 They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction,[a] as we have done for so many years?”
4 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me this message in reply: 5 “Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn,[b] was it really for me that you were fasting?
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 7:3 Hebrew mourn and fast in the fifth month. The Temple had been destroyed in the fifth month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar (August 586 B.c.); see 2 Kgs 25:8.
- 7:5 Hebrew fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months. The fifth month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of July and August. The seventh month usually occurs within the months of September and October; both the Day of Atonement and the Festival of Shelters were celebrated in the seventh month.
Zechariah 7:3-5
New International Version
Zechariah 7:3-5
New International Version
3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn(A) and fast in the fifth(B) month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted(C) and mourned in the fifth and seventh(D) months for the past seventy years,(E) was it really for me that you fasted?
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.