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VERSES ABOUT FASTING
Fasting helps me grow closer to God and strengthens my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I try not to see it as something I do for my own benefit, but as a way to improve my walk with God. It's a voluntary choice, a time when I set aside the physical need for food to nourish my spirit. It's a special time to seek God's presence, which is why I find it helpful to fast in a quiet place where I can talk with Him alone.
The Bible talks about this too. Daniel 9:31 says, "So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes." It's really inspiring to see how people in the Bible sought God through fasting.
`And when ye may fast, be ye not as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; verily I say to you, that they have their reward. `But thou, fasting, anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou mayest not appear to men fasting, but to thy Father who `is' in secret, and thy Father, who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.
Is not this the fast that I chose -- To loose the bands of wickedness, To shake off the burdens of the yoke, And to send out the oppressed free, And every yoke ye draw off? Is it not to deal to the hungry thy bread, And the mourning poor bring home, That thou seest the naked and cover him, And from thine own flesh hide not thyself?
And also now -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Turn ye back unto Me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, And with lamentation. And rend your heart, and not your garments, And turn back unto Jehovah your God, For gracious and merciful `is' He, Slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, And He hath repented concerning the evil.
and I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek `by' prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, `Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,' then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent `them' away.
And the men of Nineveh believe in God, and proclaim a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even unto their least, seeing the word doth come unto the king of Nineveh, and he riseth from his throne, and removeth his honourable robe from off him, and spreadeth out sackcloth, and sitteth on the ashes, and he crieth and saith in Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones, saying, `Man and beast, herd and flock -- let them not taste anything, let them not feed, even water let them not drink; and cover themselves `with' sackcloth let man and beast, and let them call unto God mightily, and let them turn back each from his evil way, and from the violence that `is' in their hands.Who knoweth? He doth turn back, and God hath repented, and hath turned back from the heat of His anger, and we do not perish.' And God seeth their works, that they have turned back from their evil way, and God repenteth of the evil that He spake of doing to them, and he hath not done `it'.
And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance, for I was ashamed to ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spake to the king, saying, `The hand of our God `is' upon all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath `is' upon all forsaking Him.'And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He is entreated of us.
And Jehoshaphat feareth, and setteth his face to seek to Jehovah, and proclaimeth a fast over all Judah; and Judah is gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also, from all the cities of Judah they have come in to seek Jehovah.
And it cometh to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn `for' days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, turned back from the Jordan, and was brought in the Spirit to the wilderness, forty days being tempted by the Devil, and he did not eat anything in those days, and they having been ended, he afterward hungered,
And he is there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk; and he writeth on the tables the matters of the covenant -- the ten matters.
and having appointed to them by vote elders in every assembly, having prayed with fastings, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
And I -- in their sickness my clothing `is' sackcloth, I have humbled with fastings my soul, And my prayer unto my bosom returneth.As `if' a friend, as `if' my brother, I walked habitually, As a mourner for a mother, Mourning I have bowed down.
And it cometh to pass, at Ahab's hearing these words, that he rendeth his garments, and putteth sackcloth on his flesh, and fasteth, and lieth in sackcloth, and goeth gently. And the word of Jehovah is unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, `Hast thou seen that Ahab hath been humbled before Me? because that he hath been humbled before Me, I bring not in the evil in his days; in the days of his son I bring in the evil on his house.'
Then come to him do the disciples of John, saying, `Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?' And Jesus said to them, `Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast.
`In those days, I, Daniel, have been mourning three weeks of days; desirable bread I have not eaten, and flesh and wine hath not come in unto my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.
`Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and Thou knowest not.' Lo, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, And all your labours ye exact. Lo, for strife and debate ye fast, And to smite with the fist of wickedness, Ye fast not as `to'-day, To sound in the high place your voice.Like this is the fast that I choose? The day of a man's afflicting his soul? To bow as a reed his head, And sackcloth and ashes spread out? This dost thou call a fast, And a desirable day -- to Jehovah?
And in the twenty and fourth day of this month have the sons of Israel been gathered, with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them; and the seed of Israel are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers,
And they are gathered to Mizpeh, and draw water, and pour out before Jehovah, and fast on that day, and say there, `We have sinned against Jehovah;' and Samuel judgeth the sons of Israel in Mizpeh.
Defraud not one another, except by consent for a time, that ye may be free for fasting and prayer, and again may come together, that the Adversary may not tempt you because of your incontinence;
and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth.
`Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that `is' not according to law, and when I have perished -- I have perished.'
Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, `Into' the house of Jehovah your God,
And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come in to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before Jehovah, and fast on that day till the evening, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
and he riseth, and eateth, and drinketh, and goeth in the power of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God -- Horeb.
And Cornelius said, `Four days ago till this hour, I was fasting, and `at' the ninth hour praying in my house, and, lo, a man stood before me in bright clothing,and he said, Cornelius, thy prayer was heard, and thy kind acts were remembered before God;
Then hath the king gone to his palace, and he hath passed the night fasting, and dahavan have not been brought up before him, and his sleep hath fled `from' off him.
And the men of Nineveh believe in God, and proclaim a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even unto their least,
that thou mayest not appear to men fasting, but to thy Father who `is' in secret, and thy Father, who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.
When they fast, I hearken not unto their cry, And when they cause to ascend burnt-offering and present, I accept them not, For by sword, and by famine, And by pestilence, I am consuming them.
`Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth `months', are to the house of Judah for joy and for rejoicing, and for pleasant appointed seasons, and the truth and the peace they have loved.
And I -- in their sickness my clothing `is' sackcloth, I have humbled with fastings my soul, And my prayer unto my bosom returneth.
Blow ye a trumpet in Zion, Sanctify a fast -- proclaim a restraint. Gather the people, sanctify an assembly, Assemble the aged, Gather infants and sucklings of the breasts, Go out let a bridegroom from his inner chamber, And a bride out of her closet.
but I chastise my body, and bring `it' into servitude, lest by any means, having preached to others -- I myself may become disapproved.
And it cometh to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn `for' days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.And I say, `I beseech thee, O Jehovah, God of the heavens, God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and kindness for those loving Him, and for those keeping His commands, let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father have sinned;
And so he doth year by year, from the time of her going up into the house of Jehovah, so it provoketh her, and she weepeth, and doth not eat. And Elkanah her husband saith to her, `Hannah, why weepest thou? and why dost thou not eat? and why is thy heart afflicted? am I not better to thee than ten sons?'
and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, `Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,'
and she `is' a widow of about eighty-four years, who did depart not from the temple, with fasts and supplications serving, night and day,
and she writeth in the letters, saying, `Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people,
And while I am speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and causing my supplication to fall before Jehovah my God, for the holy mount of my God, yea, while I am speaking in prayer, then that one Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision at the commencement, being caused to fly swiftly, is coming unto me at the time of the evening present. And he giveth understanding, and speaketh with me, and saith, `O Daniel, now I have come forth to cause thee to consider understanding wisely; at the commencement of thy supplications hath the word come forth, and I have come to declare `it', for thou `art' greatly desired, and understand thou concerning the matter, and consider concerning the appearance.
and they mourn, and weep, and fast till the evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel, because they have fallen by the sword.
And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come in to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before Jehovah, and fast on that day till the evening, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah. And the sons of Israel ask of Jehovah, -- and there `is' the ark of the covenant of God in those days,and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, is standing before it in those days -- saying, `Do I add again to go out to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or do I cease?' And Jehovah saith, `Go up, for to-morrow I give him into thy hand.'
Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, `Into' the house of Jehovah your God,And cry unto Jehovah, `Alas for the day! For near `is' a day of Jehovah, And as destruction from the mighty it cometh.
but days will come, and, when the bridegroom may be taken away from them, then they shall fast in those days.'
to establish these days of Purim, in their seasons, as Mordecai the Jew hath established on them, and Esther the queen, and as they had established on themselves, and on their seed -- matters of the fastings, and of their cry.
Call with the throat, restrain not, As a trumpet lift up thy voice, And declare to My people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their sins; Seeing -- Me day by day they seek, And the knowledge of My ways they desire, As a nation that righteousness hath done, And the judgment of its God hath not forsaken, They ask of me judgments of righteousness, The drawing near of God they desire: `Why have we fasted, and Thou hast not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and Thou knowest not.' Lo, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, And all your labours ye exact. Lo, for strife and debate ye fast, And to smite with the fist of wickedness, Ye fast not as `to'-day, To sound in the high place your voice.Like this is the fast that I choose? The day of a man's afflicting his soul? To bow as a reed his head, And sackcloth and ashes spread out? This dost thou call a fast, And a desirable day -- to Jehovah? Is not this the fast that I chose -- To loose the bands of wickedness, To shake off the burdens of the yoke, And to send out the oppressed free, And every yoke ye draw off? Is it not to deal to the hungry thy bread, And the mourning poor bring home, That thou seest the naked and cover him, And from thine own flesh hide not thyself? Then broken up as the dawn is thy light, And thy health in haste springeth up, Gone before thee hath thy righteousness, The honour of Jehovah doth gather thee. Then thou callest, and Jehovah answereth, Thou criest, and He saith, `Behold Me.' If thou turn aside from thy midst the yoke, The sending forth of the finger, And the speaking of vanity,
Then Jesus was led up to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil, and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger. And the Tempter having come to him said, `If Son thou art of God -- speak that these stones may become loaves.' But he answering said, `It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.'
and My people on whom My name is called be humbled, and pray, and seek My face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I -- I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.
And till the day was about to be, Paul was calling upon all to partake of nourishment, saying, `Fourteen days to-day, waiting, ye continue fasting, having taken nothing, wherefore I call upon you to take nourishment, for this is for your safety, for of not one of you shall a hair from the head fall;'
Then hath the king gone to his palace, and he hath passed the night fasting, and dahavan have not been brought up before him, and his sleep hath fled `from' off him.Then doth the king rise in the early morning, at the light, and in haste to the den of lions he hath gone; and at his coming near to the den, to Daniel, with a grieved voice, he crieth. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, thy God, whom thou art serving continually, is He able to deliver thee from the lions?'
And Jesus said to them, `Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast.
For zeal for Thy house hath consumed me, And the reproaches of Thy reproachers Have fallen upon me. And I weep in the fasting of my soul, And it is for a reproach to me.
And it cometh to pass, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, proclaimed a fast before Jehovah have all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who are coming in from cities of Judah to Jerusalem;
seeing the word doth come unto the king of Nineveh, and he riseth from his throne, and removeth his honourable robe from off him, and spreadeth out sackcloth, and sitteth on the ashes, and he crieth and saith in Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones, saying, `Man and beast, herd and flock -- let them not taste anything, let them not feed, even water let them not drink; and cover themselves `with' sackcloth let man and beast, and let them call unto God mightily, and let them turn back each from his evil way, and from the violence that `is' in their hands.Who knoweth? He doth turn back, and God hath repented, and hath turned back from the heat of His anger, and we do not perish.'
And Ezra riseth from before the house of God, and goeth unto the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib; yea, he goeth there, bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk, for he is mourning because of the trespass of the removal.
and they take their bones, and bury `them' under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and fast seven days.
And in the twenty and fourth day of this month have the sons of Israel been gathered, with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth upon them; and the seed of Israel are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers, and rise up on their station, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth of the day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to Jehovah their God.
in laboriousness and painfulness, in watchings many times, in hunger and thirst, in fastings many times, in cold and nakedness;
`In my going up into the mount to receive the tables of stone (tables of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you), and I abide in the mount forty days and forty nights; bread I have not eaten, and water I have not drunk;
And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come in to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before Jehovah, and fast on that day till the evening, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah. And the sons of Israel ask of Jehovah, -- and there `is' the ark of the covenant of God in those days,
And the men of Israel have been distressed on that day, and Saul adjureth the people, saying, `Cursed `is' the man who eateth food till the evening, and I have been avenged of mine enemies;' and none of the people hath tasted food.
`And when ye may fast, be ye not as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.
desirable bread I have not eaten, and flesh and wine hath not come in unto my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.
And Thou, O Jehovah Lord, Deal with me for Thy name's sake, Because Thy kindness `is' good, deliver me.For I `am' poor and needy, And my heart hath been pierced in my midst.As a shadow when it is stretched out I have gone, I have been driven away as a locust. My knees have been feeble from fasting, And my flesh hath failed of fatness.
And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance,
and cover themselves `with' sackcloth let man and beast, and let them call unto God mightily, and let them turn back each from his evil way, and from the violence that `is' in their hands.
and Moses goeth into the midst of the cloud, and goeth up unto the mount, and Moses is on the mount forty days and forty nights.
Then come to him do the disciples of John, saying, `Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?' And Jesus said to them, `Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast. `And no one doth put a patch of undressed cloth on an old garment, for its filling up doth take from the garment, and a worse rent is made. `Nor do they put new wine into old skins, and if not -- the skins burst, and the wine doth run out, and the skins are destroyed, but they put new wine into new skins, and both are preserved together.'
And in every province and province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, a great mourning have the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many.
And Jehoshaphat feareth, and setteth his face to seek to Jehovah, and proclaimeth a fast over all Judah;
Is not this the fast that I chose -- To loose the bands of wickedness, To shake off the burdens of the yoke, And to send out the oppressed free, And every yoke ye draw off? Is it not to deal to the hungry thy bread, And the mourning poor bring home, That thou seest the naked and cover him, And from thine own flesh hide not thyself? Then broken up as the dawn is thy light, And thy health in haste springeth up, Gone before thee hath thy righteousness, The honour of Jehovah doth gather thee. Then thou callest, and Jehovah answereth, Thou criest, and He saith, `Behold Me.' If thou turn aside from thy midst the yoke, The sending forth of the finger, And the speaking of vanity, And dost bring out to the hungry thy soul, And the afflicted soul dost satisfy, Then risen in the darkness hath thy light, And thy thick darkness `is' as noon.And Jehovah doth lead thee continually, And hath satisfied in drought thy soul, And thy bones He armeth, And thou hast been as a watered garden, And as an outlet of waters, whose waters lie not. And they have built out of thee the wastes of old, The foundations of many generations thou raisest up, And one calleth thee, `Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths to rest in.'
And it cometh to pass, at my hearing these words, I have sat down, and I weep and mourn `for' days, and I am fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.And I say, `I beseech thee, O Jehovah, God of the heavens, God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and kindness for those loving Him, and for those keeping His commands, let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father have sinned; we have acted very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commands, and the statutes, and the judgments, that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant. `Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye -- ye trespass -- I scatter you among peoples; and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them -- if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there. And they `are' Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast ransomed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.`I beseech Thee, O Lord, let, I pray Thee, Thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto the prayer of Thy servants, those delighting to fear Thy Name; and give prosperity, I pray Thee, to Thy servant to-day, and give him for mercies before this man;' and I have been butler to the king.
`Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink;
And they are gathered to Mizpeh, and draw water, and pour out before Jehovah, and fast on that day, and say there, `We have sinned against Jehovah;' and Samuel judgeth the sons of Israel in Mizpeh. And the Philistines hear that the sons of Israel have gathered themselves to Mizpeh; and the princes of the Philistines go up against Israel, and the sons of Israel hear, and are afraid of the presence of the Philistines. And the sons of Israel say unto Samuel, `Keep not silent for us from crying unto Jehovah our God, and He doth save us out of the hand of the Philistines.'
And at the present of the evening I have risen from mine affliction, and at my rending my garment and my upper robe, then I bow down on my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God,
And Cornelius said, `Four days ago till this hour, I was fasting, and `at' the ninth hour praying in my house, and, lo, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
And the man of God saith unto the king, `If thou dost give to me the half of thine house, I do not go in with thee, nor do I eat bread, nor do I drink water, in this place; for so He commanded me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou dost not eat bread nor drink water, nor turn back in the way that thou hast come.'
And he saith unto me: Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst give thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words have been heard, and I have come because of thy words. `And the head of the kingdom of Persia is standing over-against me twenty and one days, and lo, Michael, first of the chief heads, hath come in to help me, and I have remained there near the kings of Persia;
To the Overseer. -- An Instruction. By sons of Korah. As a hart doth pant for streams of water, So my soul panteth toward Thee, O God. My soul thirsted for God, for the living God, When do I enter and see the face of God?
And I gather them unto the river that is going unto Ahava, and we encamp there three days; and I consider about the people, and about the priests, and of the sons of Levi I have found none there; and I send for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, heads, and for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding; and I charge them for Iddo the head, in the place Casiphia, and put in their mouth words to speak unto Iddo, `and' his brethren the Nethinim, in the place Casiphia, to bring to us ministrants for the house of our God.And they bring to us, according to the good hand of our God upon us, a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, and Sherebiah, and his sons, and his brethren, eighteen; and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, of the sons of Merari, his brethren, and their sons, twenty; and from the Nethinim, whom David and the heads gave for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them defined by name. And I proclaim there a fast, by the river Ahava, to afflict ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a right way for us, and for our infants, and for all our substance, for I was ashamed to ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spake to the king, saying, `The hand of our God `is' upon all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath `is' upon all forsaking Him.'And we fast, and seek from our God for this, and He is entreated of us.
Then Jesus was led up to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil, and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger. And the Tempter having come to him said, `If Son thou art of God -- speak that these stones may become loaves.' But he answering said, `It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.' Then doth the Devil take him to the `holy' city, and doth set him on the pinnacle of the temple,and saith to him, `If Son thou art of God -- cast thyself down, for it hath been written, that, His messengers He shall charge concerning thee, and on hands they shall bear thee up, that thou mayest not dash on a stone thy foot.' Jesus said to him again, `It hath been written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' Again doth the Devil take him to a very high mount, and doth shew to him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and saith to him, `All these to thee I will give, if falling down thou mayest bow to me.' Then saith Jesus to him, `Go -- Adversary, for it hath been written, The Lord thy God thou shalt bow to, and Him only thou shalt serve.' Then doth the Devil leave him, and lo, messengers came and were ministering to him.
And they said unto him, `Wherefore do the disciples of John fast often, and make supplications -- in like manner also those of the Pharisees -- but thine do eat and drink?' And he said unto them, `Are ye able to make the sons of the bride-chamber -- in the bridegroom being with them -- to fast? but days will come, and, when the bridegroom may be taken away from them, then they shall fast in those days.'
And the sons of Israel ask of Jehovah, -- and there `is' the ark of the covenant of God in those days,and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, is standing before it in those days -- saying, `Do I add again to go out to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother, or do I cease?' And Jehovah saith, `Go up, for to-morrow I give him into thy hand.'
In the first year of Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who hath been made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, have understood by books the number of the years, (in that a word of Jehovah hath been unto Jeremiah the prophet,) concerning the fulfilling of the wastes of Jerusalem -- seventy years; and I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek `by' prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable; and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth. And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread; and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, `Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead? -- then he hath done evil.' And David seeth that his servants are whispering, and David understandeth that the lad is dead, and David saith unto his servants, `Is the lad dead?' and they say, `Dead.' And David riseth from the earth, and doth bathe and anoint `himself', and changeth his raiment, and cometh in to the house of Jehovah, and boweth himself, and cometh unto his house, and asketh and they place for him bread, and he eateth.And his servants say unto him, `What `is' this thing thou hast done? because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.'And he saith, `While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth? -- Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived; and now, he hath died, why `is' this -- I fast? am I able to bring him back again? I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'
Gird, and lament, ye priests, Howl, ye ministrants of the altar, Come in, lodge in sackcloth, ministrants of my God, For withheld from the house of your God hath been present and libation. Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, `Into' the house of Jehovah your God,
And I say, `I beseech thee, O Jehovah, God of the heavens, God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and kindness for those loving Him, and for those keeping His commands, let Thine ear be, I pray Thee, attentive, and Thine eyes open, to hearken unto the prayer of Thy servant, that I am praying before Thee to-day, by day and by night, concerning the sons of Israel Thy servants, and confessing concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, that we have sinned against Thee; yea, I and the house of my father have sinned; we have acted very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commands, and the statutes, and the judgments, that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant. `Remember, I pray Thee, the word that Thou didst command Moses Thy servant, saying, Ye -- ye trespass -- I scatter you among peoples; and ye have turned back unto Me, and kept My commands, and done them -- if your outcast is in the end of the heavens, thence I gather them, and have brought them in unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to tabernacle there. And they `are' Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast ransomed by Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand.`I beseech Thee, O Lord, let, I pray Thee, Thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto the prayer of Thy servants, those delighting to fear Thy Name; and give prosperity, I pray Thee, to Thy servant to-day, and give him for mercies before this man;' and I have been butler to the king.
And I weep in the fasting of my soul, And it is for a reproach to me. And I make my clothing sackcloth, And I am to them for a simile.
And dost bring out to the hungry thy soul, And the afflicted soul dost satisfy, Then risen in the darkness hath thy light, And thy thick darkness `is' as noon.And Jehovah doth lead thee continually, And hath satisfied in drought thy soul, And thy bones He armeth, And thou hast been as a watered garden, And as an outlet of waters, whose waters lie not.
And Daniel purposeth in his heart that he will not pollute himself with the king's portion of food, and with the wine of his drinking, and he seeketh of the chief of the eunuchs that he may not pollute himself. And God giveth Daniel for kindness and for mercies before the chief of the eunuchs; and the chief of the eunuchs saith to Daniel, `I am fearing my lord the king, who hath appointed your food and your drink, for why doth he see your faces sadder than `those of' the lads which `are' of your circle? then ye have made my head indebted to the king,'And Daniel saith unto the Meltzar, whom the chief of the eunuchs hath appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, `Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink; and our appearance is seen before thee, and the appearance of the lads who are eating the king's portion of food, and as thou seest -- deal with thy servants.' And he hearkeneth to them, to this word, and trieth them ten days: and at the end of ten days their appearance hath appeared better and fatter in flesh then any of the lads who are eating the king's portion of food. And the Meltzar is taking away their portion of food, and the wine of their drink, and is giving to them vegetables.
`But thou, when thou mayest pray, go into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who `is' in secret, and thy Father who is seeing in secret, shall reward thee manifestly.
And I gather them unto the river that is going unto Ahava, and we encamp there three days; and I consider about the people, and about the priests, and of the sons of Levi I have found none there;
And David saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, `Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;' and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto David, and David asketh at Jehovah, saying, `I pursue after this troop -- do I overtake it?' And He saith to him, `Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost certainly deliver.'
A Psalm of David, in his being in the wilderness of Judah. O God, Thou `art' my God, earnestly do I seek Thee, Thirsted for Thee hath my soul, Longed for Thee hath my flesh, In a land dry and weary, without waters.So in the sanctuary I have seen Thee, To behold Thy strength and Thine honour. Because better `is' Thy kindness than life, My lips do praise Thee.So I bless Thee in my life, in Thy name I lift up my hands. As `with' milk and fatness is my soul satisfied, And `with' singing lips doth my mouth praise.
and he prayeth unto Jehovah, and he saith, `I pray Thee, O Jehovah, is not this my word while I was in mine own land -- therefore I was beforehand to flee to Tarshish -- that I have known that Thou `art' a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, and repenting of evil?
Taste ye and see that Jehovah `is' good, O the happiness of the man who trusteth in Him.Fear Jehovah, ye His holy ones, For there is no lack to those fearing Him. Young lions have lacked and been hungry, And those seeking Jehovah lack not any good,
My soul desired, yea, it hath also been consumed, For the courts of Jehovah, My heart and my flesh cry aloud unto the living God,
They confess to Jehovah His kindness, And His wonders to the sons of men. For He hath satisfied a longing soul, And a hungry soul hath filled `with' goodness.
And there was Anna, a prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, she was much advanced in days, having lived with an husband seven years from her virginity, and she `is' a widow of about eighty-four years, who did depart not from the temple, with fasts and supplications serving, night and day,
And he saith to them, `Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day `is' holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.'
And let Jehovah be zealous for His land, And have pity on His people. Let Jehovah answer and say to His people, `Lo, I am sending to you the corn, And the new wine, and the oil, And ye have been satisfied with it, And I make you no more a reproach among nations,
And Mordecai writeth these things, and sendeth letters unto all the Jews who `are' in all provinces of the king Ahasuerus, who are near and who are far off,to establish on them, to be keeping the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day of it, in every year and year, as days on which the Jews have rested from their enemies, and the month that hath been turned to them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a good day, to make them days of banquet and of joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the needy.
And there were certain in Antioch, in the assembly there, prophets and teachers; both Barnabas, and Simeon who is called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen also -- Herod the tetrarch's foster-brother -- and Saul; and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, `Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,' then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent `them' away.
If thou dost turn from the sabbath thy foot, Doing thine own pleasure on My holy day, And hast cried to the sabbath, `A delight,' To the holy of Jehovah, `Honoured,' And hast honoured it, without doing thine own ways, Without finding thine own pleasure, And speaking a word. Then dost thou delight thyself on Jehovah, And I have caused thee to ride on high places of earth, And have caused thee to eat the inheritance of Jacob thy father, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken!
And it cometh to pass after this, the sons of Moab have come in, and the sons of Ammon, and with them of the peoples, against Jehoshaphat to battle. And they come in and declare to Jehoshaphat, saying, `Come against thee hath a great multitude from beyond the sea, from Aram, and lo, they `are' in Hazezon-Tamar -- it `is' En-Gedi.'And Jehoshaphat feareth, and setteth his face to seek to Jehovah, and proclaimeth a fast over all Judah; and Judah is gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also, from all the cities of Judah they have come in to seek Jehovah. And Jehoshaphat standeth in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court, and saith, `O Jehovah, God of our fathers, art not Thou -- God in the heavens? yea, Thou art ruling over all kingdoms of the nations, and in Thy hand `is' power and might, and there is none with Thee to station himself.`Art not Thou our God? Thou hast dispossessed the inhabitants of this land from before Thy people Israel, and dost give it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend to the age, and they dwell in it, and build to Thee in it a sanctuary for Thy name, saying, If evil doth come upon us -- sword, judgment, and pestilence, and famine -- we stand before this house, and before Thee, for Thy name `is' in this house, and cry unto Thee out of our distress, and Thou dost hear and save.`And now, lo, sons of Ammon, and Moab, and mount Seir, whom Thou didst not grant to Israel to go in against in their coming out of the land of Egypt, for they turned aside from off them and destroyed them not, and lo, they are recompensing to us -- to come in to drive us out of Thy possession, that Thou hast caused us to possess. `O our God, dost Thou not execute judgment upon them? for there is no power in us before this great multitude that hath come against us, and we know not what we do, but on Thee `are' our eyes.'And all Judah are standing before Jehovah, also their infants, their wives, and their sons. And upon Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, hath the Spirit of Jehovah been, in the midst of the assembly, and he saith, `Attend, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and O king Jehoshaphat, Thus said Jehovah to you, Ye fear not, nor are afraid of the face of this great multitude, for not for you `is' the battle, but for God.To-morrow, go ye down against them, lo, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and ye have found them in the end of the valley, the front of the wilderness of Jeruel. Not for you to fight in this; station yourselves, stand, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem -- be not afraid nor fear ye -- to-morrow go out before them, and Jehovah `is' with you.'And Jehoshaphat boweth -- face to the earth -- and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have fallen before Jehovah, to bow themselves to Jehovah. And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korhites, rise to give praise to Jehovah, God of Israel, with a loud voice on high. And they rise early in the morning, and go out to the wilderness of Tekoa, and in their going out Jehoshaphat hath stood and saith, `Hear me, O Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, remain stedfast in Jehovah your God, and be stedfast; remain stedfast in His prophets, and prosper.' And he taketh counsel with the people, and appointeth singers to Jehovah, and those giving praise to the honour of holiness, in the going out before the armed `men', and saying, `Give ye thanks to Jehovah, for to the age `is' His kindness.'And at the time they have begun with singing and praise, Jehovah hath put ambushments against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who are coming in to Judah, and they are smitten, and the sons of Ammon stand up, and Moab, against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to devote and to destroy, and at their finishing with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped, a man against his neighbour, to destroy. And Judah hath come in unto the watch-tower, to the wilderness, and they look unto the multitude, and lo, they `are' carcases fallen to the earth, and there is none escaped,and Jehoshaphat cometh in, and his people, to seize their spoil, and they find among them, in abundance, both goods and carcases, and desirable vessels, and they take spoil to themselves without prohibition, and they are three days seizing the spoil, for it `is' abundant.And on the fourth day they have been assembled at the valley of Blessing, for there they blessed Jehovah: therefore they have called the name of that place, `Valley of Blessing,' unto this day. And they turn back, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, to go back unto Jerusalem with joy, for Jehovah hath made them rejoice over their enemies. And they come in to Jerusalem with psalteries, and with harps, and with trumpets, unto the house of Jehovah. And there is a fear of God on all kingdoms of the lands in their hearing that Jehovah hath fought with the enemies of Israel, and the kingdom of Jehoshaphat is quiet, and his God giveth rest to him round about.
And Daniel saith unto the Meltzar, whom the chief of the eunuchs hath appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, `Try, I pray thee, thy servants, ten days; and they give to us of the vegetables, and we eat, and water, and we drink;
And it cometh to pass, at Ahab's hearing these words, that he rendeth his garments, and putteth sackcloth on his flesh, and fasteth, and lieth in sackcloth, and goeth gently.
And they rise and go up to Beth-El, and ask of God, and the sons of Israel say, `Who doth go up for us at the commencement to battle with the sons of Benjamin?' and Jehovah saith, `Judah -- at the commencement.' And the sons of Israel rise in the morning, and encamp against Gibeah, and the men of Israel go out to battle with Benjamin, and the men of Israel set themselves in array with them, `for' battle against Gibeah,and the sons of Benjamin come out from Gibeah, and destroy in Israel on that day two and twenty thousand men -- to the earth. And the people, the men of Israel, strengthen themselves, and add to set the battle in array in the place where they arranged themselves on the first day. And the sons of Israel go up and weep before Jehovah till the evening, and ask of Jehovah, saying, `Do I add to draw nigh to battle with the sons of Benjamin, my brother?' And Jehovah saith, `Go up against him.' And the sons of Israel draw near unto the sons of Benjamin on the second day, and Benjamin cometh out to meet them from Gibeah on the second day, and destroy among the sons of Israel again eighteen thousand men -- to the earth; all these are drawing sword. And all the sons of Israel go up, even all the people, and come in to Beth-El, and weep, and sit there before Jehovah, and fast on that day till the evening, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger. And the Tempter having come to him said, `If Son thou art of God -- speak that these stones may become loaves.' But he answering said, `It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.'
Then thou callest, and Jehovah answereth, Thou criest, and He saith, `Behold Me.' If thou turn aside from thy midst the yoke, The sending forth of the finger, And the speaking of vanity, And dost bring out to the hungry thy soul, And the afflicted soul dost satisfy, Then risen in the darkness hath thy light, And thy thick darkness `is' as noon.
Sanctify a fast, proclaim a restraint, Gather the elders -- all the inhabitants of the land, `Into' the house of Jehovah your God,And cry unto Jehovah, `Alas for the day! For near `is' a day of Jehovah, And as destruction from the mighty it cometh.Is not before our eyes food cut off? From the house of our God joy and rejoicing?
and he crieth and saith in Nineveh by a decree of the king and his great ones, saying, `Man and beast, herd and flock -- let them not taste anything, let them not feed, even water let them not drink; and cover themselves `with' sackcloth let man and beast, and let them call unto God mightily, and let them turn back each from his evil way, and from the violence that `is' in their hands.Who knoweth? He doth turn back, and God hath repented, and hath turned back from the heat of His anger, and we do not perish.' And God seeth their works, that they have turned back from their evil way, and God repenteth of the evil that He spake of doing to them, and he hath not done `it'.
and rise up on their station, and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth of the day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to Jehovah their God.
And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable; and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth.
Then hath the king gone to his palace, and he hath passed the night fasting, and dahavan have not been brought up before him, and his sleep hath fled `from' off him.Then doth the king rise in the early morning, at the light, and in haste to the den of lions he hath gone; and at his coming near to the den, to Daniel, with a grieved voice, he crieth. The king hath answered and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, thy God, whom thou art serving continually, is He able to deliver thee from the lions?' Then Daniel hath spoken with the king: `O king, to the ages live: my God hath sent His messenger, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not injured me: because that before Him purity hath been found in me; and also before thee, O king, injury I have not done.' Then was the king very glad for him, and he hath commanded Daniel to be taken up out of the den, and Daniel hath been taken up out of the den, and no injury hath been found in him, because he hath believed in his God. And the king hath said, and they have brought those men who had accused Daniel, and to the den of lions they have cast them, they, their sons, and their wives; and they have not come to the lower part of the den till that the lions have power over them, and all their bones they have broken small.
forty days being tempted by the Devil, and he did not eat anything in those days, and they having been ended, he afterward hungered,
And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, he saw again also presently, and having risen, was baptized, and having received nourishment, was strengthened, and Saul was with the disciples in Damascus certain days,
And Ezra riseth from before the house of God, and goeth unto the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib; yea, he goeth there, bread he hath not eaten, and water he hath not drunk, for he is mourning because of the trespass of the removal. And they cause a voice to pass over into Judah and Jerusalem, to all sons of the removal, to be gathered to Jerusalem, and every one who cometh not in by the third day, according to the counsel of the heads and of the elders, all his substance is devoted, and himself separated from the assembly of the removal.
And also now -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Turn ye back unto Me with all your heart, And with fasting, and with weeping, And with lamentation.
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a thing is revealed to Daniel, whose name is called Belteshazzar, and the thing `is' true, and the warfare `is' great: and he hath understood the thing, and hath understanding about the appearance.`In those days, I, Daniel, have been mourning three weeks of days; desirable bread I have not eaten, and flesh and wine hath not come in unto my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.
and every one who is striving, is in all things temperate; these, indeed, then, that a corruptible crown they may receive, but we an incorruptible; I, therefore, thus run, not as uncertainly, thus I fight, as not beating air; but I chastise my body, and bring `it' into servitude, lest by any means, having preached to others -- I myself may become disapproved.
A Psalm of David, in his being in the wilderness of Judah. O God, Thou `art' my God, earnestly do I seek Thee, Thirsted for Thee hath my soul, Longed for Thee hath my flesh, In a land dry and weary, without waters.
And I pray to Jehovah my God, and confess, and say: `I beseech Thee, O Lord God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the kindness to those loving Him, and to those keeping His commands; we have sinned, and done perversely, and done wickedly, and rebelled, to turn aside from Thy commands, and from Thy judgments: and we have not hearkened unto Thy servants, the prophets, who have spoken in Thy name unto our kings, our heads, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
And they said unto him, `Wherefore do the disciples of John fast often, and make supplications -- in like manner also those of the Pharisees -- but thine do eat and drink?'