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?"

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.

A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them; then they will fast, on that day.

Then came a holiday, when Herod held a feast on his birthday for his chief officials and generals and the notables of Galilee.