Matthew 6:16
New King James Version
Fasting to Be Seen Only by God
16 “Moreover, (A)when you fast, do not be like the [a]hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 6:16 pretenders
Isaiah 58:3-5
New King James Version
3 ‘Why(A) have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we (B)afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And [a]exploit all your laborers.
4 (C)Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
5 Is (D)it a fast that I have chosen,
(E)A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And (F)to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:3 Lit. drive hard
Matthew 9:14-15
New King James Version
Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting(A)
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, (B)“Why do we and the Pharisees fast [a]often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can (C)the [b]friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and (D)then they will fast.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 9:14 NU brackets often as disputed.
- Matthew 9:15 Lit. sons of the bridechamber
Nehemiah 1:4
New King James Version
4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Read full chapter
Luke 18:12
New King James Version
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
Read full chapter
Daniel 9:3
New King James Version
3 (A)Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Read full chapter
Mark 2:18
New King James Version
Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting(A)
18 (B)The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”
Read full chapter
Psalm 69:10
New King James Version
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
Psalm 35:13
New King James Version
13 But as for me, (A)when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own [a]heart.
Footnotes
- Psalm 35:13 Lit. bosom
Acts 14:23
New King James Version
23 So when they had (A)appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Read full chapter
Matthew 6:5
New King James Version
The Model Prayer(A)
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the [a]hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 6:5 pretenders
Matthew 6:2
New King James Version
2 Therefore, (A)when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
Read full chapter
Zechariah 7:3-5
New King James Version
3 and to (A)ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in (B)the fifth month and [a]fast as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you (C)fasted and mourned in the fifth (D)and seventh months (E)during those seventy years, did you really fast (F)for Me—for Me?
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Zechariah 7:3 Lit. consecrate myself
Esther 4:16
New King James Version
16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in [a]Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for (A)three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; (B)and if I perish, I perish!”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Esther 4:16 Or Susa
2 Samuel 12:16
New King James Version
16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and (A)lay all night on the ground.
Read full chapter
Acts 13:2-3
New King James Version
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, (A)“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work (B)to which I have called them.” 3 Then, (C)having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
Read full chapter
Psalm 109:24
New King James Version
24 My (A)knees are weak through fasting,
And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.
1 Kings 21:27
New King James Version
27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and (A)put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.
Read full chapter
2 Corinthians 11:27
New King James Version
27 in weariness and toil, (A)in sleeplessness often, (B)in hunger and thirst, in (C)fastings often, in cold and nakedness—
Read full chapter
1 Corinthians 7:5
New King James Version
5 (A)Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that (B)Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Read full chapter
Luke 2:37
New King James Version
37 and this woman was a widow [a]of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers (A)night and day.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 2:37 NU until she was eighty-four
Malachi 3:14
New King James Version
14 (A)You have said,
‘It is useless to serve God;
What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance,
And that we have walked as mourners
Before the Lord of hosts?
2 Samuel 12:21
New King James Version
21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
Read full chapter
2 Corinthians 6:5
New King James Version
5 (A)in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
Read full chapter
Acts 10:30
New King James Version
30 So Cornelius said, [a]“Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, (A)a man stood before me (B)in bright clothing,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Acts 10:30 NU Four days ago to this hour, at the ninth hour
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.