Matthew 9:14-17 - On Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John come to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but thy disciples fast not?

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, The sons of the wedding hall cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ And no man puts a patch of new cloth upon an old garment, for the patch of it pulls from the garment, and a tear becomes worse. ¹⁷ Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins will perish. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.

¹⁸ And John's disciples and those of the Pharisees were fasting. And they come and say to him, Why do John's disciples and those of the Pharisees fast, but the disciples with you do not fast?

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, The sons of the wedding hall cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them. As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will they fast in those day. ²¹ And no man sews a new patch of cloth on an old garment, otherwise the patch of it pulls away, the new from the old, and a tear becomes worse. ²² And no man puts new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

³³ And they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make supplications, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink.

³⁴ And he said to them, Ye cannot make the sons of the wedding hall fast while the bridegroom is with them. ³⁵ But the days will also come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.

³⁶ And he also spoke a parable to them. No man puts a patch of a new garment on an old garment, otherwise both the new tears, and that from the new will not blend with the old. ³⁷ And no man puts new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the new wine will burst the wineskins, and will itself be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved together. ³⁹ And no man having drunk old straightaway desires new, for he says, The old is better.