Matthew 9:14-17 - On Fasting

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came up to him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast a great deal, and your disciples do not fast?"

¹⁵ Jesus said to them, "Can friends at a wedding mourn so long as the bride groom is beside them? A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one sews a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, for the patch breaks away from it, and the tear is made worse: ¹⁷ nor do men pour fresh wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilt, the wineskins are ruined. They put fresh wine into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

¹⁸ As the disciples of John and of the Pharisees were observing a fast, people came and asked him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, and your disciples do not fast?"

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, "Can friends at a wedding fast while the bridegroom is beside them? As long as they have the bridegroom beside them they cannot fast. ²⁰ A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them; then they will fast, on that day. ²¹ No one stitches a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, otherwise the patch breaks away, the new from the old, and the tear is made worse: ²² no one pours fresh wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wine will burst the wineskins, and both wine and wineskins are ruined."

³³ They said to him, "The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, as do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your adherents eat and drink."

³⁴ Jesus said to them, "Can you make friends at a wedding fast while the bride groom is beside them? ³⁵ A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast at that time."

³⁶ He also told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new cloak and sews it on an old cloak; otherwise he will tear the new cloak, and the new piece will not match with the old. ³⁷ No one pours fresh wine into old wineskins; otherwise the fresh wine will burst the wineskins, the wine will be spilt and the wineskins ruined. ³⁸ No, fresh wine must be poured into new wineskins. ³⁹ Besides, no one wants new wine [immediately] after drinking old; 'The old,' he says, 'is better.'"