And, when you fast, do not put on gloomy looks, as hypocrites do who disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. That, I tell you, is their reward!

Then John's disciples came to Jesus, and asked: "Why do we and the Pharisees fast while your disciples do not?"

Jesus answered: "Can the bridegroom's friends mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom will be parted from them, and they will fast then.

Whatever town or village you visit, find out who is worthy in that place, and remain there till you leave.

When I was a stranger, you did not take me to your homes; when I was naked, you did not clothe me; and, when I was ill and in prison, you did not visit me.'

Now, at the Feast, the Governor was accustomed to grant the people the release of any one prisoner whom they might choose.

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were keeping a fast, and people came and asked Jesus: "Why is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, while yours do not?"

Jesus answered: "Can the bridegroom's friends fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.

But the days will come, when the bridegroom will be parted from them, and they will fast then--when that day comes.

Now, at the Feast, Pilate used to grant the people the release of any one prisoner whom they might ask for.

And had finished their visit; but, when they started to return, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, without their knowing it.

"John's disciples," they said to Jesus, "Often fast and say prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, while yours are eating and drinking!"

But Jesus answered them: "Can you make the bridegroom's friends fast while the bridegroom is with them?

But the days will come--a time when the bridegroom will be parted from them; and they will fast then, when those days come."

After this, the Master appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them on as his Messengers, two and two, in advance, to every town and place that he was himself intending to visit.

Whatever town you visit, if the people welcome you, eat what is set before you;

But, whatever town you go to visit, if the people do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say

I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of everything I get to God.'

The Feast of the Unleavened Bread, known as the Passover, was near.

And, when they had filled them to the brim, he added: "Now take some out, and carry it to the Master of the Feast." The servants did so.

And, when the Master of the Feast had tasted the water which had now become wine, not knowing where it had come from--although the servants who had taken out the water knew--

In consequence of this, many of the Jews, who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, learned to believe in him.

Hearing, however, that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob sent our ancestors there on their first visit.

In the course of their second visit, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh.

When he was in his fortieth year, he resolved to visit his brother Israelites;

Peter, while traveling from place to place throughout the country, went down to visit the People of Christ living at Lydda.

Some time after this, Paul said to Barnabas: "Let us go back and visit the Brethren in every town in which we have told the Lord's Message, and see how they are prospering."

There he met a Jew of the name of Aquila, a native of Pontus, who, with his wife Priscilla, had lately come from Italy, in consequence of the order which had been issued by the Emperor Claudius for all Jews to leave Rome. Paul paid them a visit,

Sometime after these events Paul resolved to go through Macedonia and Greece, and then make his way to Jerusalem. "And after I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also."

However, when we had come to the end of our visit, we went on our way, all the disciples with their wives and children escorting us out of the city. We knelt down on the beach, and prayed,

During our visit, which lasted several days, a Prophet, named Agabus, came down from Judea.

At the end of our visit, we made our preparations, and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

Some days later King Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea, and paid a visit of congratulation to Festus;

This had taken a considerable time, and sailing was already dangerous, for the Fast was already over; and so Paul gave this warning.

They got, however, into a kind of channel, and there ran the ship aground. The bows stuck fast and could not be moved, while the stern began breaking up under the strain.

Asking that, if he be willing, I may some day at last find the way open to visit you.

Whatever was written in the Scriptures in days gone by was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance, and through the encouragement drawn from the Scriptures, we might hold fast to our hope.

For my hope is to visit you on my journey, and then to be sent on my way by you, after I have first partly satisfied myself by seeing something of you.

And by means of which you are being saved. I would remind you of the very words that I used in telling it to you, since you are still holding fast to it, and since it was not in vain that you became believers in Christ.

I do not propose to pay you a visit in passing now, for I hope to stay with you for some time, if the Lord permits.

To visit you both on my way to Macedonia, and to come to you again on my return from Macedonia, and then to get you to send me on my way into Judea.

But, as my life shall answer for it, I call God to witness that it was to spare you that I deferred my visit to Corinth.

For my own sake, as well, I decided not to pay you another painful visit.

I am afraid lest, on my next visit, my God may humble me in regard to you, and that I may have to mourn over many who have long been sinning, and have not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality, in which they have indulged.

I have said it, and I say it again before I come, just as if I were with you on my second visit, though for the moment absent, I say to those who have been long sinning, as well as to all others--that if I come again, I shall spare no one.

So then, my dear Brothers, whom I am longing to see--you who are my joy and my crown, stand fast in union with the Lord, dear friends.

For it is new life to us to know that you are holding fast to the Lord.

Stand firm then, Brothers, and hold fast to the truths that we taught you, whether by word or by letter.

We have, then, in Jesus, the Son of God, a great High Priest who has passed into the highest Heaven; let us, therefore, hold fast to the Faith which we have professed.

You will be glad to hear that our Brother, Timothy, has been set free. If he comes here soon, we will visit you together.

That religious observance which is pure and spotless in the eyes of God our Father is this--to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the world.

Let your daily life among the Gentiles be so upright, that, whenever they malign you as evil-doers, they may learn, as they watch, from the uprightness of your conduct, to praise God 'at the time when he shall visit them.'

These are the men who are blots upon your 'Love-feasts,' when they feast together and provide without scruple for themselves alone. They are clouds without rain, driven before the winds; they are leafless trees without a vestige of fruit, dead through and through, torn up by the roots;

only hold fast to what you have received, until I come.

I am standing at the door and knocking! If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in, and will feast with him, and he shall feast with me.

After this, in my vision, I saw a vast throng which no man could number, of men from every nation and of all tribes, and peoples, and languages. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, robed in white, holding palm branches in their hands.

In a single hour your vast wealth vanished.' Every ship's captain and all who sail to any port, and sailors, and all who get their living from the sea, stood at a distance,

After this, I heard what seemed to be a great shout from a vast throng in Heaven, crying-- 'Hallelujah! To our God belong Salvation, and Glory, and Power,

Then I heard 'what seemed to be the shout of a vast throng, like the sound of many waters,' and like the sound of loud peals of thunder, crying-- 'Hallelujah! For the Lord is King, our God, the Almighty.

Then a voice said to me 'Write-- "Blessed are those who have been summoned to the marriage feast of the Lamb."' And the voice said-- 'These words of God are true.'

Then I saw an angel standing on the sun. He cried in a loud voice to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven-- 'Gather and come to the great feast of God,