34 Bible Verses about Abstinence as a discipline

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, You shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat. And the fat of the animal that dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with animals, may be used in any other use: but you shall in no wise eat of it.read more.
For whosoever eats the fat of the animal, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eats it shall be cut off from his people. Moreover you shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eats any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.

You are the children of the LORD your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any bald place on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a holy people unto the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. You shall not eat any abominable thing.read more.
These are the animals which you shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, The hare, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the mountain sheep. And every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof split in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you shall eat. Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have cloven hooves; as the camel, and the hare, and the rock badger: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet chews not the cud, it is unclean unto you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass. These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall you eat: And whatsoever has not fins and scales you may not eat; it is unclean unto you. Of all clean birds you shall eat. But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the vulture, and the osprey, And the buzzard, and the falcon, and the kite after their kinds, And every raven after its kind, And the ostrich, and the nighthawk, and the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds, The little owl, and the great owl, and the water hen, And the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the cormorant, And the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. And every winged insect is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. But of all clean fowls you may eat. You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it unto the stranger that is in your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it unto a foreigner: for you are a holy people unto the LORD your God. you shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

On the next day, as they went on their journey, and drew near unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet held at the four corners, and let down to the earth:read more.
In which were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.

And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready by the third day: come not near your wives.

And this shall be a statute forever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourns among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and you shall humble yourselves, by a statute forever.

And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.read more.
All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.

Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

And you shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month a holy convocation; and you shall humble yourselves: you shall not do any work on it:

Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great distress and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

Therefore also now, says the LORD, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.

And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they came and said unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the friends of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but you eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

He that regards the day, regards it unto the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks.

And he said unto the people, Be ready by the third day: come not near your wives.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Therefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them, who from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from defilements of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

It is good neither to eat meat, nor to drink wine, nor anything by which your brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak.

Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Why have we fasted, they say, and you see not? why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?read more.
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

Thus says the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet, therefore the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer a burnt offering and a grain offering, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, And to speak unto the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, consecrating myself, as I have done these so many years? Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,read more.
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did you at all fast unto me, even to me? And when you did eat, and when you did drink, did not you eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.