On Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John^[a] approached him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “The bridegroom’s attendants^[b] are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ But no one puts a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment, for its patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear becomes worse. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise^[c] the wineskins burst and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are destroyed. But they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved.”