"Whenever you fast, don't be gloomy like the hypocrites, because they put on sad faces to show others they are fasting. I tell all of you with certainty, they have their full reward!

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

I tell all of you, many will come from east and west and will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom from heaven.

Then John's disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don't fast?"

Jesus asked them, "The wedding guests can't mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."

Then he told his disciples, "The harvest is vast, but the workers are few.

When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?'

I was a stranger, and you didn't welcome me. I was naked, and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees would fast regularly. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples don't fast?"

Jesus replied, "The wedding guests can't fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they can't fast.

But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day."

Why should this happen to me, to have the mother of my Lord visit me?

Then they told him, "John's disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do those of the Pharisees. But your disciples keep right on eating and drinking."

But Jesus told them, "You can't force the wedding guests to fast while the groom is still with them, can you?

But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and at that time they will fast."

When you visit a home and stay there, and go out from there,

So he instructed them, "The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest.

I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of my entire income.'

"When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel.

He told them, "You understand how wrong it is for a Jew to associate or visit with unbelievers. But God has shown me that I should stop calling anyone common or unclean,

A few days later, Paul told Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they're doing."

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,

The next day, Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.

The next day, we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly allowing him to visit his friends there and to receive any care he needed.

So when I have completed this task and have put my seal on this contribution of theirs, I will visit you on my way to Spain.

I will visit you when I go through Macedonia for I intend to go through Macedonia

I do not want to visit with you now just in passing, because I hope to spend a longer time with you if the Lord permits.

Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but he was not inclined to do so just now. However, he will visit you when the time is right.

Now I decided not to pay you another painful visit.

He welcomed my request and eagerly went to visit you by his own free will.

Therefore, I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to visit you ahead of me, to make arrangements in advance for this gift you promised, and to have it ready as something given generously and not forced.

Now I'm ready to visit you for a third time, and I will not bother you for help. I do not want your things, but rather you yourselves. Children should not have to support their parents, but parents their children.

I encouraged Titus to visit you, and I sent along with him the brother you know so well. Titus didn't take advantage of you, did he? We conducted ourselves with the same spirit, didn't we? We took the very same steps, didn't we?

I have already warned those who sinned previously and all the rest. Although I am absent now, I am warning them as I did on my second visit: If I come back, I will not spare you,

Then your rejoicing in the Messiah Jesus will increase along with mine when I visit with you again.

Indeed, I am confident in the Lord that I will come to visit you soon.

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a waste of time.

Now may our God and Father and our Lord Jesus provide a way for us to visit you.

Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us,

These people are stains on your love feasts. They feast with you without any sense of awe. They are shepherds who care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by the winds. They are autumn trees that are fruitless, totally dead, and uprooted.

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to their faithfulness in Jesus: