137 Bible verses about Fasting

“And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.

He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.

Then I turned to the Lord God to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and 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.”Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water.Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the River 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 a band of soldiers and cavalry to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king that the hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against all who forsake him.So we fasted and petitioned our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the towns of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.

He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.

But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom, as though I grieved for a friend or a brother; I went about as one who laments for a mother, bowed down and in mourning.

When Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his bare flesh; he fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite,“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days, but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster on his house.”

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

At that time I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks.I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks.

“Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers.You fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth on their heads.Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.

“Say to all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and in the seventh for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?

So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day and said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.

David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.

“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.

Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the Lord; they fasted that day until evening. Then they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being before the Lord.

My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt.

He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me.He said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered before God.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no entertainment was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Although they fast, I do not hear their cry, and although they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I do not accept them, but by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I consume them.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah; therefore love truth and peace.”

But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her canopy.

but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the Israelites, confessing the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned.

So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

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.”

then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.

So we fasted and petitioned our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

She wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly;

While I was speaking and was praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God,while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen before in a vision, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.He came and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding.At the beginning of your supplications a word went out, and I have come to declare it, for you are greatly beloved. So consider the word and understand the vision:

They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathan and for the army of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had been struck down by the sword.

Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the Lord; they fasted that day until evening. Then they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being before the Lord.And the Israelites inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites, or shall we desist?” The Lord answered, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”

and giving orders that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther enjoined on the Jews, just as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants regulations concerning their fasts and their lamentations.

Shout out; do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins.Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they want God on their side. “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers.You fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you; 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 pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing.Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive, for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.”

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no entertainment was brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then at dawn, the king got up and at first light hurried to the den of lions.When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?”

And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.

In the fifth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water.Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”

Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, where he spent the night. He did not eat bread or drink water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles.

Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth on their heads.Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth part of the day, and for another fourth they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.

For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.

Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the Lord; they fasted that day until evening. Then they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being before the Lord.And the Israelites inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

Now Saul committed a very rash act on that day. He had laid an oath on the troops, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before it is evening and I have been avenged on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted food.

“And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’

I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks.

But you, O Lord my Lord, act on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.For I am poor and needy, and my heart is pierced within me.I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the River Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.

Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.

Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”And Jesus said to them, “The wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made.Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are ruined, but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you; 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 pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the Israelites, confessing the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned.We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded Moses your servant.Remember the word that you commanded Moses your servant, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my name.’They are your servants and your people whom you redeemed by your great power and your strong hand.O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man!” At the time, I was cupbearer to the king.

“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.

So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day and said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah. When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.The Israelites said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, and pray that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.

At the evening sacrifice I got up from my fasting, with my garments and my mantle torn, and fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the Lord my God,

Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me.

But the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your kingdom, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat food or drink water in this place.For thus I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You shall not eat food, or drink water, or return by the way that you came.’ ”

He said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?

I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the descendants of Levi.Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise,and sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his colleagues the temple servants at Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God.Since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the descendants of Mahli son of Levi son of Israel, namely, Sherebiah, with his sons and kin, eighteen;also Hashabiah and with him Jeshaiah of the descendants of Merari, with his kin and their sons, twenty;besides two hundred twenty of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the River 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 a band of soldiers and cavalry to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king that the hand of our God is gracious to all who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against all who forsake him.So we fasted and petitioned our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Then they said to him, “John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.”Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding attendants fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”

And the Israelites inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our kinsfolk the Benjaminites, or shall we desist?” The Lord answered, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, by birth a Mede, who became king over the realm of the Chaldeans,I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, must be fulfilled for the devastation of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Then I turned to the Lord God to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child whom Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill.David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.The elders of his house stood beside him urging him to rise from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us; how then can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.”But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, he perceived that the child was dead, and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”Then David rose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped; he then went to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while it was alive, but when the child died, you rose and ate food.”He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’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.”

Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, pass the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God! Grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.

I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the Israelites, confessing the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned.We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded Moses your servant.Remember the word that you commanded Moses your servant, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my name.’They are your servants and your people whom you redeemed by your great power and your strong hand.O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man!” At the time, I was cupbearer to the king.

When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine, so he asked the palace master to allow him not to defile himself.Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion from the palace master.The palace master said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king; he has appointed your food and your drink. If he should see you in poorer condition than the other young men of your age, you would endanger my head with the king.”Then Daniel asked the guard whom the palace master had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:“Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.You can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat the royal rations and deal with your servants according to what you observe.”So he agreed to this proposal and tested them for ten days.At the end of ten days it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations.So the guard continued to withdraw their royal rations and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

I gathered them by the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the descendants of Levi.

David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

O God, you are my God; I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips

He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.

O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

My soul longs, indeed it faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.In response to his people the Lord said: “I am sending you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a mockery among the nations.

Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far,enjoining them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same month, year by year,as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a childhood friend of Herod the ruler, and Saul.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.”Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

If you refrain from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests or pursuing your own affairs;then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle.Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; already they are at Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the towns of Judah they came to seek the Lord.Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,and said, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven? Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In your hand are power and might, so that no one is able to withstand you.Did you not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?They have lived in it and in it have built you a sanctuary for your name, saying,‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you, for your name is in this house, and cry to you in our distress, and you will hear and save.’See now, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt and whom they avoided and did not destroy,they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession that you have given us to inherit.O our God, will you not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Meanwhile, all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the middle of the assembly.He said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you: Do not fear or be dismayed at this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.Tomorrow go down against them; they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.And the Levites of the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa, and as they went out Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe his prophets and you will succeed.”When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy splendor, as they went before the army, saying, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.For the Ammonites and Moab attacked the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying them utterly, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; they were corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped.When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil from them, they found livestock in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They spent three days taking the spoil because of its abundance.On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day.Then all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had enabled them to rejoice over their enemies.They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets to the house of the Lord.The fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.And the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

Then Daniel asked the guard whom the palace master had appointed over 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 those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his bare flesh; he fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.

The Israelites proceeded to go up to Bethel, where they inquired of God, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the Benjaminites?” And the Lord answered, “Judah shall go up first.” Then the Israelites got up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah.The Israelites went out to battle against Benjamin, and the Israelites drew up the battle line against them at Gibeah.The Benjaminites came out of Gibeah and struck down on that day twenty-two thousand of the Israelites.The Israelites strengthened themselves and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day. So the Israelites advanced against the Benjaminites the second day.Benjamin moved out against them from Gibeah the second day and struck down eighteen thousand of the Israelites, all of them armed men.Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the Lord; they fasted that day until evening. Then they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being before the Lord.

He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished.The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

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 pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water.Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth part of the day, and for another fourth they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child whom Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill.David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no entertainment was brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then at dawn, the king got up and at first light hurried to the den of lions.When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?”Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever!My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.”Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God.The king gave a command, and those who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized,and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,

Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, where he spent the night. He did not eat bread or drink water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles.They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalemand that, if any did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all their property should be forfeited and they themselves banned from the congregation of the exiles.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. The word was true, and it concerned a great conflict. He understood the word, having received understanding in the vision. At that time I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks.I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks.

Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air,but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.

O God, you are my God; I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments,we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

Then they said to him, “John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.”