“And when you fast, do not be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces so that they appear to be fasting to men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.
And his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept because of the living child, but when the child died, you rose up and ate food.”
And it came to be, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days. And I was fasting and praying before the Elohim of the heavens,
“You have said, ‘It is worthless to serve Elohim. And what did we gain when we guarded His Charge, and when we walked as mourners before יהוה of hosts?
“Thus, when you do a kind deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do, in the congregations and in the streets, to be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the congregations and on the corners of the streets, to be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.
And Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and see, a man stood before me in shining garments,
Do not deprive one another except with agreement for a time, to give yourselves to fasting and prayer. And come together again so that Satan does not try you because of your lack of self-control.