60 Bible Verses about Fasting

So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David and because his father had done him shame.

David, therefore, besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth.

And when all the people came to cause David to eat food while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also if I taste bread or anything else until the sun is down.

And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days.

And they gathered together in Mizpeh and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the sons of Israel in Mizpeh.

And Jesus said unto them, Can the sons of the bridechamber 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 shall fast.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer rose up in my bosom.

When I wept with fasting of my soul, thou hast been a reproach unto me.

Why have we fasted, they say, and thou dost not see? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou dost take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and exact your own estates.

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 sword and by famine and by pestilence.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping, and with mourning:

But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thine head, and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the earth into the house of the LORD your God and cry unto the LORD.

Howbeit this lineage of demons does not go out but by prayer and fasting.

Do not defraud one another, except it be with mutual consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again, that Satan not tempt you for your incontinency.

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.

And in each province, wherever the king's commandment and his law came, there was great mourning among the Jews and fasting and weeping and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so I will go in unto the king, even though this is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.

Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came unto the house of God and wept and sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and slept in sackcloth and went softly.

And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God.

all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

When I climbed up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, without eating bread or drinking water;

And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sins in which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Johanan, the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of the transgression of those that had been carried away.

Then the king went to his palace and lay down without eating; neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them.

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

And immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days and forty nights and was tempted of Satan and was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered unto him.

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

And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sins in which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them.

And they gathered together in Mizpeh and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the sons of Israel in Mizpeh.

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel had separated themselves from all strangers and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall gather thee. Then shalt thou call, and thou shalt hear the LORD; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou pour out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: read more.
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And they shall build up out of thee the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the fallen foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

David, therefore, besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth.

My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh fails for lack of fatness.

Why have we fasted, they say, and thou dost not see? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou dost take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and exact your own estates.

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 sword and by famine and by pestilence.

that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Speak unto 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 unto me, even to me?

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came unto the house of God and wept and sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

When I climbed up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, without eating bread or drinking water;

And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mount, and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sins in which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples do not fast?

And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees did fast and therefore came and said unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

I fast two meals every sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess.

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and slept in sackcloth and went softly.

And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the sons of Israel slew of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen in one day.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer rose up in my bosom.

Then the king went to his palace and lay down without eating; neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

I ate no pleasant bread, neither did flesh nor wine come into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all until the three weeks of days were fulfilled.

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry.

And having ordained elders for them in every congregation and having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed.

And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have waited and continued fasting, having taken nothing.

I fast two meals every sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess.

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

And having ordained elders for them in every congregation and having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed.

And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they released them.

And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was intreated of us.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping, and with mourning:

Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the earth into the house of the LORD your God and cry unto the LORD.

And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days.

all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

where he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing

in labour and travail, in many watches, in hunger and thirst, in many fasts, in cold and nakedness.

And they gathered together in Mizpeh and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the sons of Israel in Mizpeh.

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel had separated themselves from all strangers and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer rose up in my bosom.

Then the king went to his palace and lay down without eating; neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

Moreover when ye 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 already have their reward. But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thine head, and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Moreover when ye 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 already have their reward. But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thine head, and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sins in which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month, the sons of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them.

Moreover when ye 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 already have their reward. But thou, when thou dost fast, anoint thine head, and wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

David, therefore, besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth.

And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days.

in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,

in labour and travail, in many watches, in hunger and thirst, in many fasts, in cold and nakedness.

And having ordained elders for them in every congregation and having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed.

And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they released them.

They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and slept in sackcloth and went softly.

And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

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?

Is not rather the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the ties of oppression, to release into freedom those who are broken, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out into thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou not hide thyself from thy brother?

And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God.

Then they said unto 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 unto them, Can ye make the sons of the bridechamber 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.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples do not fast?

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 the heavens

Moreover when ye 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 already have their reward.

David, therefore, besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the earth, but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died. And the slaves of David feared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice; how much more will it trouble him if we tell him that the child is dead? read more.
But when David saw that his slaves whispered, David understood that the child was dead; therefore, David said unto his slaves, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes and came into the house of the LORD and worshipped. Then he came to his own house; and when he asked, they set bread before him, and he ate. Then his slaves said unto him, What is this that thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he replied, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will have mercy on me, that the child may live?

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so I will go in unto the king, even though this is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so I will go in unto the king, even though this is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance.

So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was intreated of us.

My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh fails for lack of fatness.

They have responded to my love by becoming my adversaries, but I give myself unto prayer.

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they released them.

When I wept with fasting of my soul, thou hast been a reproach unto me.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer rose up in my bosom.

And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

I fast two meals every sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess.

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. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he threw his robe from him and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water: read more.
but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God; and let each one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger, that we not perish? And God saw their works, because they turned from their evil way, and he repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did not do it.

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them.

and she was a widow eighty-four years, who departed not from the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.

When I climbed up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, without eating bread or drinking water;

And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sins in which ye sinned in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn unto me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping, and with mourning:

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they released them.

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia the Word was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the Word was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the Word, and had intelligence in the vision. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three weeks of days. I ate no pleasant bread, neither did flesh nor wine come into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all until the three weeks of days were fulfilled.

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three weeks of days. I ate no pleasant bread, neither did flesh nor wine come into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all until the three weeks of days were fulfilled.

David, therefore, besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth.

And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

And when all the people came to cause David to eat food while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also if I taste bread or anything else until the sun is down.

Then Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the LORD and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people of Jerusalem and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.

Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Johanan, the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of the transgression of those that had been carried away.

And having ordained elders for them in every congregation and having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed.

Then all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came unto the house of God and wept and sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer rose up in my bosom.

When I wept with fasting of my soul, thou hast been a reproach unto me.

And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God.

And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing

And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Then the king went to his palace and lay down without eating; neither were instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep fled from him.

And they gathered together in Mizpeh and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the sons of Israel in Mizpeh.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples do not fast?

and she was a widow eighty-four years, who departed not from the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so I will go in unto the king, even though this is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.

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 the heavens

where he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry.

And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

And when all the people came to cause David to eat food while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also if I taste bread or anything else until the sun is down.

And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh and fasted seven days.

And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples do not fast?

I fast two meals every sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess.

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 the heavens

And I turned my face unto the Lord God, seeking him in prayer and supplication, in fasting and sackcloth, and ashes:

And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they released them.