Matthew 9:14-17 - On Fasting

¹⁴ Then came to him the disciples of John; saying, Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, The sons of the nuptial chamber cannot mourn inasmuch as the bridegroom is with them; but the days shall come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast. ¹⁶ And no one puts on a cover of uncombed fragment upon an old garment, for its filling takes away from the garment, and the division is Worse. ¹⁷ Neither do they cast new wine into old wineskins: but if otherwise, the wine-skins burst, and the wine is poured out, and the wine-skins are destroyed; but they cast new wine into new wine-skins, and they are both preserved.

¹⁸ And the disciples of John, and of the Pharisees were fasting: and they come and say to him, Why do the disciples of John, and of the Pharisees fast, and the disciples to thee fast not?

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the nuptial-chamber, in which the bridegroom is with them, fast? as much time as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ And the days shall come when the bridegroom should he taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. ²¹ And none sews a piece of uncombed fragment upon an old garment; and lest its new filling-up take away from the old, and the splitting be worse. ²² And none puts new wine in old wine-skins: and lest the new wine rend the wine-skins, and the wine be poured out, and the wine-skins perish; but they put new wine in new wine-skins.

³³ And they said to him, Wherefore do the disciples of John fast frequently, and make prayers, and likewise they of the Pharisees; and they to thee eat and drink

³⁴ And he said to them, Ye cannot make the sons of the nuptial-chamber fast, when the bridegroom is with them. ³⁵ But the days will come also, when the bridegroom shall be carried away from them; then shall they fast in those days.

³⁶ And he also spake to them a parable; That none put a piece of new garment, upon an old garment; and if not so, the new also splits, and the piece from the new agrees not with the old. ³⁷ And none put new wine into old wineskins; and if not so, the new wine bursts the wine-skins, and it will be poured out, and the wine-skins will perish. ³⁸ But new wine cast into new wine-skins; and both are kept. ³⁹ And none drinking old, quickly desires new, for he says, The old is better.