A Question About Fasting

¹⁴ Then ^(A)the disciples of John came to him, saying, ^(B)“Why do we and ^(C)the Pharisees fast,^[a] but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, ^(D)“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? ^(E)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(F)then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old ^(G)wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine into old ^(A)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[a]