34 Bible Verses about Abstinence as a discipline
Most Relevant Verses
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat. And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used for any other purpose; but ye shall in no wise eat of it.read more.
For whoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. Moreover, ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatever soul it may be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art a holy people to the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.read more.
These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow-deer, and the wild-goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. Nevertheless, these ye shall not eat, of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you. And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, is unclean to you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass. These ye shall eat, of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat: And whatever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean to you. Of all clean birds ye shall eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the glede, and the kite, and the vultur after his kind, And every raven after his kind, And the owl, and the night-hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, And the pelican, and the gier-eagle, and the cormorant, And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. And every creeping animal that flieth is unclean to you: they shall not be eaten. But of all clean fowls ye may eat. Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it to the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it to an alien: for thou art a holy people to the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
On the morrow, as they were going on their journey, and drew nigh to the city, Peter went up upon the house-top 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 to him, as it had been a great sheet knit 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 animals, 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 any thing that is common or unclean.
And Moses went down from the mount to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
And this shall be a statute for ever to you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It shall be a sabbath of rest to you, and ye shall afflict your souls by a statute for ever.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves to 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 liquor 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 vine-tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Wherefore 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 for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.
And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month a holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: in it ye shall not do any work.
Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Then Ezra arose from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he ate no bread, nor drank water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.
And they said to me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates 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, saith the LORD, Turn ye 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 for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them.
Then was Jesus led 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 Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted by the devil. And in those days he ate nothing; and when they were ended, he was afterward hungry.
Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said to them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they will fast.
And the disciples of John, and of the Pharisees, used to fast: and they come, and say to him, Why do the disciples of John, and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said to them, Can the children of the bride-chamber 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 from them, and then they will fast in those days.
And they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? And he said to them, Can ye make the children of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they will 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 eighty four years, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
He that regardeth the day, regardeth it to the Lord: and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Then said Jesus to 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 to him with his disciples also, he said to them, Whoever 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 rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, who from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write to them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from lewdness, and from things strangled, and from blood.
It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing by which thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Verily, I say to you, they have their reward.
Why have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye 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? wilt thou 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 bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou shouldst bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou shouldst cover him; and that thou shouldst not hide thyself from thy own flesh?
Thus saith the LORD to this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the LORD to me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt-offering and an oblation, 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 to the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD, And to speak to the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? Then came the word of the LORD of hosts to me, saying,read more.
Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to me? And when ye ate, and when ye drank, did ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
