Matthew 9:14-17 - On Fasting

¹⁴ Then John's disciples came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?"

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom 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 one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made. ¹⁷ Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

¹⁸ And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, "Why do the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, "Can the groomsmen 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 will be taken away from them, and then will they fast in those days. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins."

³³ They said to him, "The disciples of John often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink."

³⁴ He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is with them? ³⁵ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days."

³⁶ He also told a parable to them. "No one having torn a piece from a new garment puts it on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and also the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ No man having drunk old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"