"Why have we fasted,' they ask, "but you do not see? "Why have we humbled ourselves,' they ask, "but you take no notice?'" "Look! On your fast day you serve your own interest and oppress all your workers.

You go and read the words of the LORD that you wrote at my dictation from the scroll. Read them to the people at the LORD's Temple on the fast day. Also read them to all the people of Judah who are coming from their towns.

"Is this the kind of fast that I have chosen, merely a day for a person to humble himself? Is it merely for bowing down one's head like a bulrush, for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, an acceptable day to the LORD?

"Go and gather all the Jewish people who are in Susa and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night or day. Both I and my young women will also fast in the same way, and then I'll go in to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

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?"

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

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

"Look! You fast only for quarreling, and for fighting, and for hitting with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice heard on high.

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.

"The great Day of the LORD approaches How it comes, hurrying faster and faster! The sound of the Day of the LORD there includes the bitter cry of the mighty soldier.

"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!

Instead, you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done today,

They mourned and wept, and then decided to fast until dusk for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the army of the LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen in battle.

Zeruiah's three sons Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were there. As a runner, Asahel was fast, like one of the wild gazelles.

In the memos, she wrote the following directives: "Proclaim a public fast and seat Naboth in the front row.

They proclaimed a public fast and seated Naboth in the front row.

Then I called for a fast there at the Ahava River so we could humble ourselves before our God and seek from him an appropriate way for us and our little ones to live, and how we should guard our personal wealth,

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

Because my steps have held fast to your paths, my footsteps have not faltered.

I weep and fast, and I am mocked for it.

Set apart time for a fast! Call a solemn assembly! Gather the elders and everyone living in the land to the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD!"

"Sound the ram's horn in Zion! Dedicate a fast and call for a solemn assembly!

At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel. But Jonah had gone down into the vessel's hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

The people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least important.

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

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

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."

Blessed is the one who does this, and the person that holds it fast, who observes the Sabbath without profaning it, and restrains his hands from practicing any evil.

For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me, and who hold fast my covenant

"Also, the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, and to bless the LORD'S name, observing the Sabbath without profaning it, and who hold fast my covenant

Isn't this the fast that I have been choosing: to loose the bonds of injustice, and to untie the cords of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Although they fast, I won't listen to their cry, and although they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I'll put an end to them with the sword, with famine, and with a plague."

In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a fast was proclaimed in the LORD's presence in Jerusalem for all the people of Jerusalem, as well as all the people who were coming from the towns of Judah.

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."

All the Israelis, including its army, went up from there to Bethel and wept, remaining there in the LORD's presence, fasting throughout the day until dusk, when they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in the LORD's presence.

On that day they fasted there and said, "We have sinned against the LORD." Then Samuel judged the Israelis at Mizpah. When the Philistines heard that the Israelis had gathered at Mizpah, the Philistine lords came up against Israel. When the Israelis heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines.

On the twenty-fourth day of this same month, the Israelis gathered together while fasting, wearing sackcloth, and covering themselves with dust.

Much time had been lost, and because navigation had become dangerous and the day of fasting had already past, Paul began to warn those on the ship,

and then as a widow for 84 years. She never left the Temple, but continued to worship there night and day with times of fasting and prayer.

That day will be filled with wrath, a day of trouble and tribulation, a day of desolation and devastation, a day of doom and gloom, a day of clouds and shadows,

and Ezra continued to read from the Book of the Law of God day by day, from the first day through the last. They celebrated for seven days, and on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly according to regulation.

He is to purify himself on the third day and he will be clean on the seventh day. But if he can't purify himself on the third day then he can't be clean on the seventh day.

Each day during the seven days of the festival, he is to provide a burnt offering to the LORD, consisting of seven bulls and seven rams without defect, offered each day throughout the seven days, along with a male goat offered each day as a sin offering.

I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, "One day's ration of wheat for a day's wage, or three day's ration of barley for a day's wage! But don't damage the olive oil or the wine!"

For six days work is to be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest in dedication to the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day is to be executed.

"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you've harvested the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of the LORD for seven days. The first day is to be a Sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is to be a Sabbath rest.

They began their consecration duties on the first day of the first month and finished at the LORD's outer vestibule on the eighth day of the month. Another eight days was used to consecrate the LORD's Temple, so they completed the work on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Your sacrifice is to be eaten on that day and the next day. Anything that remains to the third day is to be incinerated.