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)

¹⁶ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷ Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

⁹ Since we have now been justified^(A) by his blood,^(B) how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath^(C) through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies,^(D) we were reconciled^(E) to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!^{(F) 11} Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.^(G)