13 Bible Verses about Asceticism, People Practicing

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the {Israelites} and say to them, 'When a man or a woman takes a special vow, a vow of a {Nazirite}, to keep separate for Yahweh, he will abstain from wine and fermented drink; he will not drink wine vinegar or vinegar of fermented drink; he will not drink the fruit juice of grapes or eat fresh or dry grapes.read more.
All the days of his separation you will not eat from anything that is made from the grapevine, from sour grapes to the skin [of grapes]. " 'All the days of the vow of his separation a razor will not pass over his head. Until fulfilling the days that he separated himself to Yahweh he will be holy and grow long the locks of the hair of his head. " 'All the days of keeping himself separated for Yahweh he will not go to a person who is dead; for even his father, mother, brother, or sister he will not make himself unclean {by their death}, because the separation to his God [is] on his head. He will be holy for Yahweh all the days of his separation.

So then, be careful and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because you [will] conceive and bear a son. No razor {will touch} his head, because the boy will be a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. And it is he who will begin to deliver Israel from [the] hand of [the] Philistines."

So {he confided everything to her}, and he said to her, "A razor {has never touched} my head, for I [am] a {Nazirite of God} {from birth}. If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.

Now John himself had his clothing made from camel's hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

And John was dressed in camel's hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!'

For John the Baptist has come not eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

Then the disciples of John approached him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?"

And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and said to him, "{Why} do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

And they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and make prayers--likewise also the [disciples] of the Pharisees--but yours are eating and drinking!"

I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.'

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Surely the Day of Atonement [is] on the tenth [day] of the seventh month; it shall be a holy assembly for you, and you shall deny yourselves, and you shall present an offering made by fire to Yahweh. And you must not do {any regular work} on {this very same day}, because it [is] the Day of Atonement to make atonement for you {before} Yahweh your God.read more.
If [there is] any person who does not deny [himself] on {this very same day}, then he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on {this very same day}, I will exterminate that person from the midst of his people. You must not do any work; [it is] a {lasting statute} throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It [is] {a Sabbath of complete rest} for you, and you shall deny yourselves on the ninth [day] of the month in the evening--from evening to evening you must observe your [extraordinary] Sabbath."

{And then}, in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on [the] fourth [day] of the ninth month, [which is] Kislev. And [the people of] Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, and their men, to entreat {the favor} of Yahweh, saying to the {priests of the house of Yahweh of hosts} and to the prophets, "Should I mourn in the fifth month and keep myself separate as I have done for these many years?"read more.
And the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, "Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?