Mark 2:18-22

New International Reader's Version

Jesus Is Asked About Fasting

¹⁸ John’s disciples and the Pharisees were going without eating. Some people came to Jesus. They said to him, “John’s disciples are fasting. The disciples of the Pharisees are also fasting. But your disciples are not. Why aren’t they?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the groom go without eating while he is with them? They will not fast as long as he is with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. On that day they will go without eating.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of new cloth on old clothes. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old. That will make the tear worse. ²² No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins. Then the wine and the wineskins will both be destroyed. No, people pour new wine into new wineskins.”