38 Bible Verses about Abstinence

Abstain from all suspicious things.

forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with giving thanks, of them which believe, and know the truth.

but that we write unto them, that they abstain themselves from filthiness of images, from fornication, from strangled, and from blood.

Withdraw not yourselves one from another except it be with consent for a time, for to give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and afterward come again to the same thing, lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers, and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which fight against the soul,

Then after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said, "Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, and not have loosed from Crete, neither to have brought unto us this harm and loss.

And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, "Drink no wine nor strong drink - neither thou nor thy sons with thee - when ye go into the tabernacle of witness, lest ye die. And let it be a law forever unto your children after you: that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,

he shall abstain from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or of strong drink, nor drink whatsoever is pressed out of grapes: and shall eat no fresh grapes neither yet dried, as long as his abstinence endureth. Moreover he shall eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, no not so much as the kernels or the husk of the grape.

And now beware, and drink no wine nor strong drink; neither eat any unclean thing.

And the Angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, "Thy wife must abstain from all that I said unto her: she may eat of nothing that cometh of the vine tree, nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: But must observe all that I bade her."

And no man was appointed what he should drink: for the king had commanded all the officers of his house, that everyone should do as it liked him.

Keep no company with winebibbers and riotous eaters of flesh;

Look not thou upon the wine, how red it is, and what a color it giveth in the glass. It goeth down softly; but at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth as an adder.

O Lemuel, give kings no wine, give kings and princes no strong drink;

But they said, "We drink no wine, for Jonadab the yea, ye shall have no vineyards: but for all your time ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live long in the land, wherein ye be strangers.' Thus have we obeyed the commandment of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father, in all that he hath charged us, and so we drink no wine all our life long: we, nor our wives, our sons, and our daughters.

The words which Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded his sons, that they should drink no wine, are fast and surely kept: for unto this day they drink no wine but obey their father's commandment. But as for me, I have stood up early, I have spoken unto you, and given you earnest warning: and yet have ye not been obedient unto me.

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall neither drink wine nor strong drink. And he shall be filled with the holy ghost, even in his mother's womb:

Ye have eaten no bread, nor drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know, how that he is the LORD your God.

And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, "There never came razor nor shears upon mine head, for I have been an abstainer to God even from my mother's womb. If mine hair were cut off, my strength would go from me, and I should wax and be like all other men."

And the Angel of the LORD appeared unto his wife and said unto her, "Behold, thou art barren and bearest not: But thou shalt conceive and bear a son. And now beware, and drink no wine nor strong drink; neither eat any unclean thing. For see, thou shalt conceive and bear a son. And there may no razor or shearers come on his head: for the lad shall be an abstainer unto God, even from the time of his birth. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines."

But Daniel was at a point with himself, that he would not be defiled through the king's meat, nor the wine which he drunk. And this he desired of the chief chamberlain, lest he should defile himself.

"O prove but ten days with thy servants, and let us have pottage to eat, and water to drink:

But they said, "We drink no wine, for Jonadab the yea, ye shall have no vineyards: but for all your time ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live long in the land, wherein ye be strangers.' Thus have we obeyed the commandment of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father, in all that he hath charged us, and so we drink no wine all our life long: we, nor our wives, our sons, and our daughters.read more.
Neither build we any house to dwell therein, we have also among us neither vineyards, nor corn land to sow: but we dwell in tents, we obey, and do according unto all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But now that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, 'Come, let us go to Jerusalem, that we may escape the host of the Chaldeans and the Assyrians: and so we dwell now at Jerusalem.'" Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, "Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Go and tell whole Judah and all the inhabiters of Jerusalem: Will ye not be reformed, to obey my words, sayeth the LORD? The words which Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded his sons, that they should drink no wine, are fast and surely kept: for unto this day they drink no wine but obey their father's commandment. But as for me, I have stood up early, I have spoken unto you, and given you earnest warning: and yet have ye not been obedient unto me.

For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, he hath the devil.

For John Baptist came unto you neither eating bread, nor drinking wine, and ye say, 'He hath the devil.'

"Drink no wine nor strong drink - neither thou nor thy sons with thee - when ye go into the tabernacle of witness, lest ye die. And let it be a law forever unto your children after you:

he shall abstain from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or of strong drink, nor drink whatsoever is pressed out of grapes: and shall eat no fresh grapes neither yet dried, as long as his abstinence endureth.

Look not thou upon the wine, how red it is, and what a color it giveth in the glass.

But they said, "We drink no wine, for Jonadab the

so that I had no lust to eat bread: as for flesh and wine, there came none within my mouth: No, I did not once anoint myself, till the whole three weeks were out.

It is good neither to eat flesh, neither to drink wine, neither anything, whereby thy brother stumbleth, either falleth, or is made weak.

Wherefore if meat hurt my brother, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, because I will not hurt my brother.

And before the sons of the kindred of the Rechabites, I set pots full of wine, and cups, and said unto them, "Drink wine." But they said, "We drink no wine, for Jonadab the yea, ye shall have no vineyards: but for all your time ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live long in the land, wherein ye be strangers.'read more.
Thus have we obeyed the commandment of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father, in all that he hath charged us, and so we drink no wine all our life long: we, nor our wives, our sons, and our daughters.

that is to say: that ye abstain from things offered to images, from blood, from strangled and fornication. From which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. So fare ye well."

If thou shalt leave vowing, it shall be no sin unto thee:

For this is the will of God, even that ye should be holy, and that ye should abstain from fornication,

and in knowledge, temperance; and in temperance, patience; in patience, godliness;