59 Bible Verses about Fasting

Jonathan got up from the table {enraged}, and did not eat on the second day of the new moon because he was upset about David, because his father had disgraced him.

David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground.

Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down."

Then they took their bones and buried [them] under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted [for] seven days.

So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.

And Jesus said to them, "{The bridegroom's attendants} are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth. I weakened my soul with fasting, and my prayer {returned to me unanswered}.

When I wept in the fasting of my soul, it became reproaches for me.

'Why do we fast, and you do not see [it]? We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice [it]?' Look! You find delight on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers!

Although they fast, I [am] not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I [am] not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I [am] about to destroy them."

"And even now," {declares} Yahweh, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing."

But [when] you are fasting, {put olive oil on your head} and wash your face so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Solemnize a fast! Call an assembly! Gather [the] elders, all [of] the inhabitants of the land [in] the house of Yahweh your God, and cry out to Yahweh.

Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by agreement, for a time, in order that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and [then] you should be {together} again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self control.

I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava to humble ourselves before our God in order to seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and our possessions.

In every province [each] place where the king's edict and his law came, there [was] great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, [and] sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.

"Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink [for] three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which [is] not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.

And all the {Israelites} and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh.

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his flesh, fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.

So he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.

every strong man arose and took the dead body of Saul and the dead bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

And he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights. He ate no food and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.

{When I went up the mountain} to receive {the stone tablets}, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh {made} with you, and remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights, I did not eat food and I did not drink water.

And [then] I lay prostrate {before} Yahweh, as earlier, forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh [and so] provoking him.

Ezra rose from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. He did not eat food nor drink water because he was mourning over the sin of the exiles.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night in fasting, and no food was brought in before him and his sleep fled from him.

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them.

Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, and [after he] had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry.

And immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and [when] they were completed, he was hungry.

And [then] I lay prostrate {before} Yahweh, as earlier, forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh [and so] provoking him.

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them.

So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them. Those of the seed of Israel separated themselves from all of the foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.

so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall grow quickly. And your salvation shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, 'Here I [am]!' If you remove from among you [the] yoke, the {finger-pointing} and {evil speech}, if you offer your soul to the hungry, and you satisfy [the] appetite of [the] afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness [will be] like noon. read more.
And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail. And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you; you shall erect [the] foundations of {many generations,} and {you shall be called} [the] bricklayer [of] [the] breach, [the] restorer of paths to live [in].

David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground.

My knees {buckle} from fasting, and my body grows lean without fat.

'Why do we fast, and you do not see [it]? We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice [it]?' Look! You find delight on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers!

Although they fast, I [am] not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I [am] not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I [am] about to destroy them."

so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"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?

And he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights. He ate no food and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.

And all the {Israelites} and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh.

And he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights. He ate no food and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words.

{When I went up the mountain} to receive {the stone tablets}, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh {made} with you, and remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights, I did not eat food and I did not drink water.

And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and he went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

And [then] I lay prostrate {before} Yahweh, as earlier, forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh [and so] provoking him.

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?"

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

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his flesh, fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.

These encamped opposite for seven days, and it happened on the seventh day that {the battle began}, and the {Israelites} killed the Arameans, one hundred thousand infantry in one day.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth. I weakened my soul with fasting, and my prayer {returned to me unanswered}.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night in fasting, and no food was brought in before him and his sleep fled from him.

I had not eaten [any] choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and {I did not use any ointment} {until the end of three whole weeks}.

and [after he] had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry.

And [when they] had appointed elders for them in every church, [after] praying with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

And until the day was about to come, Paul was urging [them] all to take [some] food, saying, "Today [is the] fourteenth day you have waited [anxiously], [and] you have continued without eating, having taken nothing.

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

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and [when] they were completed, he was hungry.

And [when they] had appointed elders for them in every church, [after] praying with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

Then, [after they] had fasted and prayed and placed [their] hands on them, they sent [them] away.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek [him] [by] prayer and pleas for mercy, in fasting and [in] sackcloth and ashes.

So we fasted and sought our God for this and he responded to our prayer.

"And even now," {declares} Yahweh, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing."

Solemnize a fast! Call an assembly! Gather [the] elders, all [of] the inhabitants of the land [in] the house of Yahweh your God, and cry out to Yahweh.

Then they took their bones and buried [them] under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted [for] seven days.

every strong man arose and took the dead body of Saul and the dead bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

And he was {unable to see} [for] three days, and he did not eat or drink.

And Cornelius said, "{Four days ago at this hour}, [the] ninth, I was praying in my house. And behold, a man in shining clothing stood before me

with toil and hardship, often in sleepless nights, with hunger and thirst, often going hungry, in cold and poorly clothed.

So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them. Those of the seed of Israel separated themselves from all of the foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth. I weakened my soul with fasting, and my prayer {returned to me unanswered}.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night in fasting, and no food was brought in before him and his sleep fled from him.

"Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But [when] you are fasting, {put olive oil on your head} and wash your face so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But [when] you are fasting, {put olive oil on your head} and wash your face so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And [then] I lay prostrate {before} Yahweh, as earlier, forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh [and so] provoking him.

On the twenty-fourth day of this month the {Israelites} gathered in fasting, in sackcloths, and with soil on them.

"Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But [when] you are fasting, {put olive oil on your head} and wash your face so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground.

Then they took their bones and buried [them] under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted [for] seven days.

in beatings, in prisons, in disturbances, in troubles, in sleepless nights, in going hungry,

with toil and hardship, often in sleepless nights, with hunger and thirst, often going hungry, in cold and poorly clothed.

And [when they] had appointed elders for them in every church, [after] praying with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

Then, [after they] had fasted and prayed and placed [their] hands on them, they sent [them] away.

They called a fast, and they seated Naboth at the head of the people.

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his flesh, fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.

Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Look! You fast to quarrel and strife, and to strike with a {wicked fist}. You shall not fast as [you do] {today}, to {make your voice heard} on the height. Is [the] fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate {himself}? To bow his head like a reed, and {make} his bed [on] sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?

Is this not [the] fast I choose: to release [the] bonds of injustice, to untie [the] ropes of [the] yoke, and to let [the] oppressed go free, and {tear} every yoke to pieces? [Is it] not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring {home} [the] poor, [the] homeless. When you see [the] naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your {relatives}.

So he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.

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!" So he said to them, "You are not able to make the {bridegroom's attendants} fast as long as the bridegroom is with them, [are you]? But days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days."

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

When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

"Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground. The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he [was] not willing, and he did not eat [any] food with them. It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David [were] afraid to tell him that the child [was] dead, for they said, "Look, when the child [was] alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, 'The child [is] dead'? He may do [something] evil." read more.
When David saw that his servants [were] whispering together, he realized that the child [was] dead. Then David said to his servants, "[Is] the child dead?" And they said, "He [is] dead." David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went [to] the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his [own] house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, "What [is] this thing that you have done? While the child [was] alive, you fasted and wept; [now] that the child has died, you get up and eat food!" He said, "When the child [was] still alive, I fasted and I wept because I thought, 'Who knows? Yahweh may have mercy on me that the child will live.'

and [after he] had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry.

"Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink [for] three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which [is] not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.

"Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink [for] three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which [is] not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.

I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava to humble ourselves before our God in order to seek from him a safe journey for us, our children, and our possessions.

So we fasted and sought our God for this and he responded to our prayer.

My knees {buckle} from fasting, and my body grows lean without fat.

In return for my love they accuse me, though I [am in] prayer.

And [while] they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart now for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, [after they] had fasted and prayed and placed [their] hands on them, they sent [them] away.

When I wept in the fasting of my soul, it became reproaches for me.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth. I weakened my soul with fasting, and my prayer {returned to me unanswered}.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek [him] [by] prayer and pleas for mercy, in fasting and [in] sackcloth and ashes.

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

And the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth--from the greatest of them {to the least important}. And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. And he had a proclamation made, and said, "In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles: "No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! read more.
And [the] human beings and [the] animals must be covered [with] sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn {from his blazing anger} {so that} we will not perish." And God saw their deeds--that they turned from their evil ways--and God changed his mind about the evil that he had said [he would] bring upon them, and he did not do [it].

And [while] they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart now for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

and herself [as] a widow up to eighty-four years) who did not depart from the temple with fastings and prayers, serving night and day.

{When I went up the mountain} to receive {the stone tablets}, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh {made} with you, and remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights, I did not eat food and I did not drink water.

And [then] I lay prostrate {before} Yahweh, as earlier, forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh [and so] provoking him.

"And even now," {declares} Yahweh, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing."

And [while] they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart now for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, [after they] had fasted and prayed and placed [their] hands on them, they sent [them] away.

In the third year of Cyrus [the] king of [the] Persians, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was called [by] his name Belteshazzar, and the word [was] reliable and [it concerned] a great tribulation, and he understood the word and {he received understanding}. In those days, I, Daniel, I [myself] was [in] mourning {for three whole weeks}. I had not eaten [any] choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and {I did not use any ointment} {until the end of three whole weeks}.

In those days, I, Daniel, I [myself] was [in] mourning {for three whole weeks}. I had not eaten [any] choice food, and meat and wine did not enter my mouth, and {I did not use any ointment} {until the end of three whole weeks}.

David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground.

Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down."

Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek Yahweh. And he called for a fast through all Judah.

{And then} in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast {before} Yahweh.

Ezra rose from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. He did not eat food nor drink water because he was mourning over the sin of the exiles.

And [when they] had appointed elders for them in every church, [after] praying with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

And all the {Israelites} and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh.

Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth. I weakened my soul with fasting, and my prayer {returned to me unanswered}.

When I wept in the fasting of my soul, it became reproaches for me.

So he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.

And Cornelius said, "{Four days ago at this hour}, [the] ninth, I was praying in my house. And behold, a man in shining clothing stood before me

Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night in fasting, and no food was brought in before him and his sleep fled from him.

So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.

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

and herself [as] a widow up to eighty-four years) who did not depart from the temple with fastings and prayers, serving night and day.

"Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink [for] three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which [is] not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.

When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

And he was {unable to see} [for] three days, and he did not eat or drink.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek [him] [by] prayer and pleas for mercy, in fasting and [in] sackcloth and ashes.

and [after he] had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek [him] [by] prayer and pleas for mercy, in fasting and [in] sackcloth and ashes.

Then all the people came to give David food. Still on that day, David swore, "{May God punish me} if I taste food or anything before the sun goes down."

Then they took their bones and buried [them] under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted [for] seven days.

Then they mourned and wept and fasted over Saul and Jonathan his son until the evening, [as well] as over the people of Yahweh and over the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

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

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

When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God to seek [him] [by] prayer and pleas for mercy, in fasting and [in] sackcloth and ashes.

Then, [after they] had fasted and prayed and placed [their] hands on them, they sent [them] away.