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.

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)

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.

¹² I fast^(A) twice a week and give a tenth^(B) of all I get.’

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)

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?”