“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. Treasure in Heaven.
Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke?Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh?
Yet even now—oracle of the Lord— return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God, For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment.
I turned to the Lord God, to seek help, in prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”at the end of about four hundred and fifty years. After these things he provided judges up to Samuel [the] prophet.Then they asked for a king. God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.Then he removed him and raised up David as their king; of him he testified, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish.’From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel;and as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’“My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent.The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize him, and by condemning him they fulfilled the oracles of the prophets that are read sabbath after sabbath.For even though they found no grounds for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him put to death,and when they had accomplished all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb.Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off. First Mission Begins in Cyprus.
Then I proclaimed a fast, there by the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horsemen to protect us against enemies along the way, since we had said to the king, “The favoring hand of our God is over all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who forsake him.”So we fasted, seeking this from our God, and it was granted.
Frightened, Jehoshaphat resolved to consult the Lord. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.Thereafter Jehoshaphat’s kingdom had peace, for his God gave him rest on every side. Jehoshaphat’s Other Deeds.Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi.He walked in the way of Asa his father unceasingly, doing what was right in the Lord’s sight.Nevertheless, the high places did not disappear and the people had not yet set their hearts on the God of their ancestors.The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, are recorded in the chronicle of Jehu, son of Hanani, which was incorporated into the book of the kings of Israel.After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel—he acted wickedly.He joined with him in building ships to go to Tarshish; the fleet was built at Ezion-geber.But Eliezer, son of Dodavahu from Mareshah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said: “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will shatter your work.” And the ships were wrecked and were unable to sail to Tarshish.Then Judah gathered to seek the Lord’s help; from every one of the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. Jehoshaphat’s Prayer.
When I heard this report, I began to weep and continued mourning for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desertfor it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’and: ‘With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time. The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry.Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region.He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. The Rejection at Nazareth.He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to readand was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.
So Moses was there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, without eating any food or drinking any water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.
They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith.
Yet I, when they were ill, put on sackcloth, afflicted myself with fasting, sobbed my prayers upon my bosom.I went about in grief as for my brother, bent in mourning as for my mother.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite,Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time. I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s time.
Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?”Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
In those days, I, Daniel, mourned three full weeks.“Do you know,” he asked, “why I have come to you? Soon I must fight the prince of Persia again. When I leave, the prince of Greece will come;but I shall tell you what is written in the book of truth. No one supports me against these except Michael, your prince,I ate no savory food, took no meat or wine, and did not anoint myself at all until the end of the three weeks.
“Why do we fast, but you do not see it? afflict ourselves, but you take no note?” See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers.See, you fast only to quarrel and fight and to strike with a wicked fist! Do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high!Is this the manner of fasting I would choose, a day to afflict oneself? To bow one’s head like a reed, and lie upon sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites gathered together while fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.You worked signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants and the people of his land, Because you knew of their insolence toward them; thus you made for yourself a name even to this day.The sea you divided before them, on dry ground they passed through the midst of the sea; Their pursuers you hurled into the depths, like a stone into the mighty waters.With a column of cloud you led them by day, and by night with a column of fire, To light the way of their journey, the way in which they must travel.On Mount Sinai you came down, you spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances, true laws, good statutes and commandments;Your holy sabbath you made known to them, commandments, statutes, and law you prescribed for them, by the hand of Moses your servant.Food from heaven you gave them in their hunger, water from a rock you sent them in their thirst. You told them to enter and occupy the land which you had sworn to give them.But they, our ancestors, proved to be insolent; they were obdurate and did not obey your commandments.They refused to obey and no longer remembered the wonders you had worked for them. They were obdurate and appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in mercy; you did not forsake them.Though they made for themselves a molten calf, and proclaimed, ‘Here is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ and were guilty of great insults,Yet in your great mercy you did not forsake them in the desert. By day the column of cloud did not cease to lead them on their journey, by night the column of fire did not cease to light the way they were to travel.Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all who were of foreign extraction, then stood forward and confessed their sins and the guilty deeds of their ancestors.
Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh month these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?
When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out on the ground before the Lord, and they fasted that day, saying, “We have sinned against the Lord.” It was at Mizpah that Samuel began to judge the Israelites. Rout of the Philistines.
Do not deprive each other, except perhaps by mutual consent for a time, to be free for prayer, but then return to one another, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
David pleaded with God on behalf of the child. He kept a total fast, and spent the night lying on the ground clothed in sackcloth.
Proclaim a holy fast! Call an assembly! Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, To the house of the Lord, your God, and cry out to the Lord!
So the entire Israelite army went up and entered Bethel, where they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and communion offerings before the Lord.
He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, three o’clock in the afternoon, I was at prayer in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling robes stood before me and said,‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your almsgiving remembered before God.
To forestall any tampering, the king sealed with his own ring and the rings of the lords the stone that had been brought to block the opening of the den.
the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. Treasure in Heaven.
If they fast, I will not listen to their supplication. If they sacrifice burnt offerings or grain offerings, I will take no pleasure in them. Rather, I will destroy them with the sword, famine, and plague.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast days of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become occasions of joy and gladness, and happy festivals for the house of Judah. So love faithfulness and peace!
Yet I, when they were ill, put on sackcloth, afflicted myself with fasting, sobbed my prayers upon my bosom.
Blow the horn in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an assembly!Gather the people, sanctify the congregation; Assemble the elderly; gather the children, even infants nursing at the breast; Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her bridal tent.
No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
When I heard this report, I began to weep and continued mourning for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.I prayed: “Lord, God of heaven, great and awesome God, you preserve your covenant of mercy with those who love you and keep your commandments.May your ears be attentive, and your eyes open, to hear the prayer that I, your servant, now offer in your presence day and night for your servants the Israelites, confessing the sins we have committed against you, I and my ancestral house included.
Year after year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would provoke her, and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.Elkanah, her husband, would say to her: “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Why are you so miserable? Am I not better for you than ten sons?” Hannah’s Prayer.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
This is what she wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
I was still praying to the Lord, my God, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, presenting my petition concerning the holy mountain of my God—I was still praying, when the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision before, came to me in flight at the time of the evening offering.He instructed me in these words: “Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding.When you began your petition, an answer was given which I have come to announce, because you are beloved. Therefore, mark the answer and understand the vision.
They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
So the entire Israelite army went up and entered Bethel, where they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and communion offerings before the Lord.The Israelites consulted the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of the Lord was there in those days,and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was standing in his presence in those days), and asked, “Shall I again go out to battle with my brother Benjamin, or shall I stop?” The Lord said: Attack! For tomorrow I will deliver him into your power.
Proclaim a holy fast! Call an assembly! Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, To the house of the Lord, your God, and cry out to the Lord!O! The day! For near is the day of the Lord, like destruction from the Almighty it is coming!
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Proclaim to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.If you lavish your food on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall become like midday;Then the Lord will guide you always and satisfy your thirst in parched places, will give strength to your bones And you shall be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.Your people shall rebuild the ancient ruins; the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you, “Restorer of ruined dwellings.”If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, the Lord’s holy day glorious; If you glorify it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs—Then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the judgment of their God; They ask of me just judgments, they desire to draw near to God.“Why do we fast, but you do not see it? afflict ourselves, but you take no note?” See, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers.See, you fast only to quarrel and fight and to strike with a wicked fist! Do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high!Is this the manner of fasting I would choose, a day to afflict oneself? To bow one’s head like a reed, and lie upon sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke?Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh?Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!” If you remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech;
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’”Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him. The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry.When he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Call of the First Disciples.As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.At once they left their nets and followed him.He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them,and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. Ministering to a Great Multitude.He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them.And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”
if then my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land.
Until the day began to dawn, Paul kept urging all to take some food. He said, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting, going hungry and eating nothing.I urge you, therefore, to take some food; it will help you survive. Not a hair of the head of anyone of you will be lost.”
To forestall any tampering, the king sealed with his own ring and the rings of the lords the stone that had been brought to block the opening of the den.Then the king returned to his palace for the night; he refused to eat and he dismissed the entertainers. Since sleep was impossible for him,Darius decided to appoint over his entire kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps.the king rose very early the next morning and hastened to the lions’ den.
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
In the ninth month, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, all the people of Jerusalem and all those who came from Judah’s cities to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles, no man or beast, no cattle or sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.Man and beast alike must be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; they all must turn from their evil way and from the violence of their hands.Who knows? God may again repent and turn from his blazing wrath, so that we will not perish.”
Then Ezra left his place before the house of God and entered the chamber of Johanan, son of Eliashib, where he spent the night neither eating food nor drinking water, for he was in mourning over the apostasy of the exiles.
Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.
On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites gathered together while fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.You worked signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants and the people of his land, Because you knew of their insolence toward them; thus you made for yourself a name even to this day.The sea you divided before them, on dry ground they passed through the midst of the sea; Their pursuers you hurled into the depths, like a stone into the mighty waters.With a column of cloud you led them by day, and by night with a column of fire, To light the way of their journey, the way in which they must travel.On Mount Sinai you came down, you spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances, true laws, good statutes and commandments;Your holy sabbath you made known to them, commandments, statutes, and law you prescribed for them, by the hand of Moses your servant.Food from heaven you gave them in their hunger, water from a rock you sent them in their thirst. You told them to enter and occupy the land which you had sworn to give them.But they, our ancestors, proved to be insolent; they were obdurate and did not obey your commandments.They refused to obey and no longer remembered the wonders you had worked for them. They were obdurate and appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in mercy; you did not forsake them.Though they made for themselves a molten calf, and proclaimed, ‘Here is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ and were guilty of great insults,Yet in your great mercy you did not forsake them in the desert. By day the column of cloud did not cease to lead them on their journey, by night the column of fire did not cease to light the way they were to travel.Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all who were of foreign extraction, then stood forward and confessed their sins and the guilty deeds of their ancestors.Your good spirit you bestowed on them, to give them understanding; Your manna you did not withhold from their mouths, and you gave them water in their thirst.Forty years in the desert you sustained them: they did not want; Their garments did not become worn, and their feet did not swell.You gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you divided among them as border lands. They possessed the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon, and the land of Og, king of Bashan.You made their children as numerous as the stars of the heavens, and you brought them into the land which you had commanded their ancestors to enter and possess.The children went in to possess the land; you humbled before them the Canaanite inhabitants and gave them into their power, Their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all good things, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate and had their fill, fattened and feasted on your great goodness.But they were contemptuous and rebelled against you: they cast your law behind their backs. They murdered your prophets who bore witness against them to bring them back to you: they were guilty of great insults.Therefore you gave them into the power of their enemies, who oppressed them. But in the time of their oppression they would cry out to you, and you would hear them from heaven, And according to your great mercy give them saviors to deliver them from the power of their enemies.As soon as they had relief, they would go back to doing evil in your sight. Again you abandoned them to the power of their enemies, who crushed them. Once again they cried out to you, and you heard them from heaven and delivered them according to your mercy, many times over.You bore witness against them, to bring them back to your law. But they were insolent and would not obey your commandments; They sinned against your ordinances, which give life to those who keep them. They turned stubborn backs, stiffened their necks, and would not obey.When they had taken their places, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God, for a fourth of the day, and during another fourth they made their confession and bowed down before the Lord their God.
in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure.
when I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you. Meanwhile I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no food and drank no water.
So the entire Israelite army went up and entered Bethel, where they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and communion offerings before the Lord.The Israelites consulted the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of the Lord was there in those days,
Even though the Israelites were exhausted that day, Saul laid an oath on them, saying, “Cursed be the one who takes food before evening, before I am able to avenge myself on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
I ate no savory food, took no meat or wine, and did not anoint myself at all until the end of the three weeks.
But you, Lord, are my Lord, deal kindly with me for your name’s sake; in your great mercy rescue me.For I am poor and needy; my heart is pierced within me.Like a lengthening shadow I am gone, I am shaken off like the locust.My knees totter from fasting; my flesh has wasted away.
Then I proclaimed a fast, there by the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.
Man and beast alike must be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; they all must turn from their evil way and from the violence of their hands.
But Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up on the mountain. He was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?”Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” The Official’s Daughter and the Woman with a Hemorrhage.
Frightened, Jehoshaphat resolved to consult the Lord. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out on the ground before the Lord, and they fasted that day, saying, “We have sinned against the Lord.” It was at Mizpah that Samuel began to judge the Israelites. Rout of the Philistines.When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their leaders went up against Israel. Hearing this, the Israelites became afraid of the Philistinesand appealed to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, to save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Then, at the time of the evening sacrifice, I rose in my wretchedness, and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees, stretching out my hands to the Lord, my God. A Penitential Prayer.
Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, three o’clock in the afternoon, I was at prayer in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling robes stood before me and said,
The man of God said to the king, “If you gave me half your palace, I would not go with you, nor eat bread or drink water in this place.For I was instructed by the word of the Lord: Do not eat bread or drink water, and do not return by the way you came.”
“Do not fear, Daniel,” he continued; “from the first day you made up your mind to acquire understanding and humble yourself before God, your prayer was heard. Because of it I started out,but the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood in my way for twenty-one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia,
For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites.I will say to God, my rock: “Why do you forget me? Why must I go about mourning with the enemy oppressing me?”It shatters my bones, when my adversaries reproach me, when they say to me every day: “Where is your God?”Why are you downcast, my soul, why do you groan within me? Wait for God, for I shall again praise him, my savior and my God.As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.
I assembled them by the river that flows toward Ahava, where we camped for three days. There I perceived that both laymen and priests were present, but I could not discover a single Levite.So I sent for discerning leaders, Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam,with a command for Iddo, the leader in the place Casiphia, instructing them what to say to Iddo and his kinsmen, and to the temple servants in Casiphia, in order to procure for us ministers for the house of our God.Since the favoring hand of our God was over us, they sent to us a well-instructed man, one of the descendants of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and kinsmen, eighteen men.They also sent us Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, descendants of Merari, and their kinsmen and their sons, twenty men.Of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershon; of the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; of the descendants of David, Hattush,Of the temple servants, those whom David and the princes appointed to serve the Levites, there were two hundred and twenty. All these were enrolled by name.Then I proclaimed a fast, there by the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horsemen to protect us against enemies along the way, since we had said to the king, “The favoring hand of our God is over all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who forsake him.”So we fasted, seeking this from our God, and it was granted.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’”Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him. The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry.
And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.”Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”
The Israelites consulted the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of the Lord was there in those days,and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was standing in his presence in those days), and asked, “Shall I again go out to battle with my brother Benjamin, or shall I stop?” The Lord said: Attack! For tomorrow I will deliver him into your power.
It was the first year that Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the race of the Medes, reigned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans;and did not hear the voice of the Lord, our God, by walking in his laws given through his servants the prophets.The curse and the oath written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, were poured out over us for our sins, because all Israel transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to hear your voice.He fulfilled the words he spoke against us and against those who ruled us, by bringing upon us an evil—no evil so great has happened under heaven as happened in Jerusalem.As it is written in the law of Moses, this evil has come upon us. We did not appease the Lord, our God, by turning back from our wickedness and acting according to your truth,so the Lord kept watch over the evil and brought it upon us. The Lord, our God, is just in all that he has done: we did not listen to his voice.“Now, Lord, our God, who led your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and made a name for yourself even to this day, we have sinned, we are guilty.Lord, in keeping with all your just deeds, let your anger and your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. On account of our sins and the crimes of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become the reproach of all our neighbors.Now, our God, hear the prayer and petition of your servant; and for your own sake, Lord, let your face shine upon your desolate sanctuary.Give ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look upon our desolate city upon which your name is invoked. When we present our petition before you, we rely not on our just deeds, but on your great mercy.Lord, hear! Lord, pardon! Lord, be attentive and act without delay, for your own sake, my God, because your name is invoked upon your city and your people!”in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years the Lord had decreed to the prophet Jeremiah: Jerusalem was to lie in ruins for seventy years.I was still praying to the Lord, my God, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, presenting my petition concerning the holy mountain of my God—I was still praying, when the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision before, came to me in flight at the time of the evening offering.He instructed me in these words: “Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding.When you began your petition, an answer was given which I have come to announce, because you are beloved. Therefore, mark the answer and understand the vision.“Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and for your holy city: Then transgression will stop and sin will end, guilt will be expiated, Everlasting justice will be introduced, vision and prophecy ratified, and a holy of holies will be anointed.Know and understand: From the utterance of the word that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt Until there is an anointed ruler, there shall be seven weeks. In the course of sixty-two weeks it shall be rebuilt, With squares and trenches, in time of affliction.After the sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut down with no one to help him. And the people of a leader who will come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. His end shall come in a flood; until the end of the war, which is decreed, there will be desolation.For one week he shall make a firm covenant with the many; Half the week he shall abolish sacrifice and offering; In their place shall be the desolating abomination until the ruin that is decreed is poured out upon the desolator.”I turned to the Lord God, to seek help, in prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Then Nathan returned to his house. The Lord struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, and it became desperately ill.David pleaded with God on behalf of the child. He kept a total fast, and spent the night lying on the ground clothed in sackcloth.The elders of his house stood beside him to get him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor would he take food with them.On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said: “When the child was alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to what we said. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do some harm!”But David noticed his servants whispering among themselves and realized that the child was dead. He asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “Yes.”The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers.Rising from the ground, David washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. He returned to his own house and asked for food; they set it before him, and he ate.His servants said to him: “What is this you are doing? While the child was living, you fasted and wept and kept vigil; now that the child is dead, you rise and take food.”He replied: “While the child was living, I fasted and wept, thinking, ‘Who knows? The Lord may grant me the child’s life.’But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”
Gird yourselves and lament, you priests! wail, ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, ministers of my God! For the grain offering and the libation are withheld from the house of your God.Proclaim a holy fast! Call an assembly! Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, To the house of the Lord, your God, and cry out to the Lord!
Because zeal for your house has consumed me, I am scorned by those who scorn you.When I humbled my spirit with fasting, this led only to scorn.
If you lavish your food on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall become like midday;Then the Lord will guide you always and satisfy your thirst in parched places, will give strength to your bones And you shall be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.
But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
I assembled them by the river that flows toward Ahava, where we camped for three days. There I perceived that both laymen and priests were present, but I could not discover a single Levite.
and said to Abiathar, the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod!” When Abiathar brought him the ephod,David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue these raiders? Can I overtake them?” The Lord answered him: Go in pursuit, for you will certainly overtake them and bring about a rescue. Raid on the Amalekites.
A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.But those who seek my life will come to ruin; they shall go down to the depths of the netherworld!Those who would hand over my life to the sword shall become the prey of jackals!But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by the Lord shall exult, but the mouths of liars will be shut!O God, you are my God— it is you I seek! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts, In a land parched, lifeless, and without water.I look to you in the sanctuary to see your power and glory.For your love is better than life; my lips shall ever praise you!I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands, calling on your name.
He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first toward Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, repenting of punishment.
Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, such wondrous deeds for the children of Adam.For he satisfied the thirsty, filled the hungry with good things.
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
He continued: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord is your strength!”
Then the Lord grew jealous for his land and took pity on his people.In response the Lord said to his people: I am sending you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; Never again will I make you a disgrace among the nations.
Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, full of every sort of deceit and fraud. Will you not stop twisting the straight paths of [the] Lord?Even now the hand of the Lord is upon you. You will be blind, and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately a dark mist fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.When the proconsul saw what had happened, he came to believe, for he was astonished by the teaching about the Lord. Paul’s Arrival at Antioch in Pisidia.From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. But John left them and returned to Jerusalem.They continued on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the sabbath they entered [into] the synagogue and took their seats.After the reading of the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent word to them, “My brothers, if one of you has a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.” Paul’s Address in the Synagogue.So Paul got up, motioned with his hand, and said, “Fellow Israelites and you others who are God-fearing, listen.The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt. With uplifted arm he led them out of itand for about forty years he put up with them in the desert.When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritanceWhile they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”at the end of about four hundred and fifty years. After these things he provided judges up to Samuel [the] prophet.Then they asked for a king. God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.Then he removed him and raised up David as their king; of him he testified, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish.’From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel;and as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’“My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent.The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders failed to recognize him, and by condemning him they fulfilled the oracles of the prophets that are read sabbath after sabbath.For even though they found no grounds for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him put to death,and when they had accomplished all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb.Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off. First Mission Begins in Cyprus.
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, the Lord’s holy day glorious; If you glorify it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs—Then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
After this the Moabites, the Ammonites, and with them some Meunites came to fight against Jehoshaphat.And now, see the Ammonites, Moabites, and those of Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to invade when they came from the land of Egypt, but instead they passed them by and did not destroy them:See how they are now repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you have given us.O our God, will you not bring judgment on them? We are powerless before this vast multitude that is coming against us. We ourselves do not know what to do, so our eyes are turned toward you.” Victory Prophesied.All Judah was standing before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.And the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the clan of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly,and he said: “Pay attention, all of Judah, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! The Lord says to you: Do not fear or be dismayed at the sight of this vast multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.Go down against them tomorrow. You will see them coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will come upon them at the end of the wadi which opens on the wilderness of Jeruel.You will not have to fight in this encounter. Take your places, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord; he will be with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow go out to meet them, and the Lord will be with you.”Then Jehoshaphat knelt down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord in worship.Levites from among the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to sing the praises of the Lord, the God of Israel, their voices ever louder. The Invaders Destroyed.Jehoshaphat was told: “A great multitude is coming against you from across the sea, from Edom; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (which is En-gedi).Early in the morning they went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were going out, Jehoshaphat halted and said: “Listen to me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Let your faith in the Lord, your God, be firm, and you will be firm. Have faith in his prophets and you will succeed.”After taking counsel with the people, he appointed some to sing to the Lord and some to praise the holy Splendor as it went forth at the head of the army. They sang: “Give thanks to the Lord, whose love endures forever.”At the moment they began their jubilant praise, the Lord laid an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and those of Mount Seir who were coming against Judah, so that they were defeated.For the Ammonites and Moabites set upon the inhabitants of Mount Seir and exterminated them according to the ban. And when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, each helped to destroy the other.When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness and looked toward the throng, there were only corpses fallen on the ground, with no survivors.Jehoshaphat and his people came to gather the spoils, and they found an abundance of cattle and personal property, garments and precious vessels. They took so much that they were unable to carry it all; it took them three days to gather the spoils, there was so much of it.On the fourth day they held an assembly in the Valley of Berakah—for there they blessed the Lord; that is why the place is called the Valley of Berakah to this day.Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had given them joy over their enemies.They came to Jerusalem, with harps, lyres, and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.And the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the surrounding lands when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.Frightened, Jehoshaphat resolved to consult the Lord. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.Thereafter Jehoshaphat’s kingdom had peace, for his God gave him rest on every side. Jehoshaphat’s Other Deeds.
Then Daniel said to the guardian whom the chief chamberlain had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept in the sackcloth, and went about subdued.
They went up to Bethel and consulted God. When the Israelites asked, “Who shall go up first for us to do battle with the Benjaminites?” the Lord said: Judah first.The Israelites rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. War with Benjamin.The leaders of all the people, all the staff-bearers of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God—four hundred thousand foot soldiers who carried swords.The men of Israel marched out to do battle with Benjamin and drew up in battle array against them at Gibeah.The Benjaminites marched out of Gibeah that day and felled twenty-two thousand men of Israel.But the army of the men of Israel took courage and again drew up for battle in the place where they had drawn up on the previous day.Then the Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening. “Shall I again engage my brother Benjamin in battle?” they asked the Lord; and the Lord answered: Attack!When the Israelites drew near to the Benjaminites on the second day,Benjamin marched out of Gibeah against them again and felled eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them swordsmen.So the entire Israelite army went up and entered Bethel, where they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and communion offerings before the Lord.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.At once they left their nets and followed him.He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them,and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. Ministering to a Great Multitude.He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them.And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”
Proclaim a holy fast! Call an assembly! Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, To the house of the Lord, your God, and cry out to the Lord!O! The day! For near is the day of the Lord, like destruction from the Almighty it is coming!Before our very eyes has not food been cut off? And from the house of our God, joy and gladness?
When they had taken their places, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God, for a fourth of the day, and during another fourth they made their confession and bowed down before the Lord their God.
Then Nathan returned to his house. The Lord struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, and it became desperately ill.David pleaded with God on behalf of the child. He kept a total fast, and spent the night lying on the ground clothed in sackcloth.
To forestall any tampering, the king sealed with his own ring and the rings of the lords the stone that had been brought to block the opening of the den.Then the king returned to his palace for the night; he refused to eat and he dismissed the entertainers. Since sleep was impossible for him,Darius decided to appoint over his entire kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps.the king rose very early the next morning and hastened to the lions’ den.As he drew near, he cried out to Daniel sorrowfully, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve so constantly been able to save you from the lions?”Daniel answered the king: “O king, live forever!My God sent his angel and closed the lions’ mouths so that they have not hurt me. For I have been found innocent before him; neither have I done you any harm, O king!”This gave the king great joy. At his order Daniel was brought up from the den; he was found to be unharmed because he trusted in his God.
for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.
Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized,and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength. Saul Preaches in Damascus. He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus,
Then Ezra left his place before the house of God and entered the chamber of Johanan, son of Eliashib, where he spent the night neither eating food nor drinking water, for he was in mourning over the apostasy of the exiles.A proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather together in Jerusalem,and that whoever failed to appear within three days would, according to the judgment of the leaders and elders, suffer the confiscation of all his possessions, and would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
Yet even now—oracle of the Lord— return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel, who had been named Belteshazzar. The revelation was certain: a great war; he understood this from the vision. and in the first year of Darius the Mede I stood to strengthen him and be his refuge.But then a hand touched me, raising me to my hands and knees.“Daniel, beloved,” he said to me, “understand the words which I am speaking to you; stand up, for my mission now is to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up trembling.“Do not fear, Daniel,” he continued; “from the first day you made up your mind to acquire understanding and humble yourself before God, your prayer was heard. Because of it I started out,but the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood in my way for twenty-one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia,and came to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the last days; for there is yet a vision concerning those days.”While he was speaking thus to me, I fell forward and kept silent.Then something like a hand touched my lips; I opened my mouth and said to the one standing before me, “My lord, I was seized with pangs at the vision and I was powerless.How can my lord’s servant speak with you, my lord? For now no strength or even breath is left in me.”The one who looked like a man touched me again and strengthened me, saying,“Do not fear, beloved. Peace! Take courage and be strong.” When he spoke to me, I grew strong and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”In those days, I, Daniel, mourned three full weeks.“Do you know,” he asked, “why I have come to you? Soon I must fight the prince of Persia again. When I leave, the prince of Greece will come;but I shall tell you what is written in the book of truth. No one supports me against these except Michael, your prince,I ate no savory food, took no meat or wine, and did not anoint myself at all until the end of the three weeks.
Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
I prayed to the Lord, my God, and confessed, “Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your covenant and show mercy toward those who love you and keep your commandments and your precepts!We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and turned from your commandments and your laws.We have not obeyed your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and all the people of the land.
And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.”