13 Bible Verses about Asceticism, People Practicing

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman takes an oath to keep himself separate and give himself to the Lord; He is to keep himself from wine and strong drink, and take no mixed wine or strong drink or any drink made from grapes, or any grapes, green or dry.read more.
All the time he is separate he may take nothing made from the grape-vine, from its seeds to its skin. All the time he is under his oath let no blade come near his head; till the days while he is separate are ended he is holy and his hair may not be cut. All the time he is separate he may not come near any dead body. He may not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, his sister or his brother, if death comes to them; because he is under an oath to keep himself separate for God. All the time he is separate he is holy to the Lord.

Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food; For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

And opening all his heart to her, he said to her, My head has never been touched by a blade, for I have been separate to God from the day of my birth: if my hair is cut off, then my strength will go from me and I will become feeble, and will be like any other man.

Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey.

And John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey.

For John came, taking no food or drink, and they say, He has an evil spirit.

For John the Baptist came, taking no food or drink, and you say, He has an evil spirit.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees frequently go without food, but your disciples do not?

And John's disciples and the Pharisees were taking no food: and they came and said to him, Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees go without food, but your disciples do not?

And they said to him, The disciples of John frequently go without food, and make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples take food and drink.

Twice in the week I go without food; I give a tenth of all I have.

And the Lord said to Moses, The tenth day of this seventh month is the day for the taking away of sin; let it be a holy day of worship; you are to keep from pleasure, and give to the Lord an offering made by fire. And on that day you may do no sort of work, for it is a day of taking away sin, to make you clean before the Lord your God.read more.
For any person, whoever he may be, who takes his pleasure on that day will be cut off from his people. And if any person, whoever he may be, on that day does any sort of work, I will send destruction on him from among his people. You may not do any sort of work: this is an order for ever through all your generations wherever you may be living. Let this be a Sabbath of special rest to you, and keep yourselves from all pleasure; on the ninth day of the month at nightfall from evening to evening, let this Sabbath be kept.

And it came about in the fourth year of King Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month Chislev. Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech to make a request for grace from the Lord, And to say to the priests of the house of the Lord of armies and to the prophets, Am I to go on weeping in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done in past years?read more.
Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, When you went without food and gave yourselves to grief in the fifth and the seventh months for these seventy years, did you ever do it because of me?