'Fast' in the Bible

For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

But Ja'el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.

And his servants said to him, What thing is this which thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child alive; but as soon as the child is dead, thou dost rise and eat bread.

But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

And she wrote in the letter saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people;

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

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.

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

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

My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart reproacheth me not one of my days.

When the waters lie hidden as in stone, and the face of the deep holdeth fast together.

When the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together?

And he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind.

For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand cometh down upon me.

A thing of Belial cleaveth fast unto him; and now that he is laid down, he will rise up no more.

My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him;

Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go: keep her, for she is thy life.

Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth fast to it; that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

for thus saith Jehovah: Unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast to my covenant,

Also the sons of the alien, that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto him and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast to my covenant;

Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not; have afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find what pleaseth you, and exact all your labours.

Behold, ye have fasted for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye do not at present fast, to cause your voice to be heard on high.

Is such the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul, that he should bow down his head as a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to Jehovah?

Is not this the fast which I have chosen: to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, and to send forth free the crushed, and that ye break every yoke?

Why hath this people of Jerusalem slidden back with a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer up burnt-offering and oblation, I will not accept them: for I will consume them by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence.

and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in the house of Jehovah upon the fast day; and thou shalt also read them in the ears of all Judah that come from their cities.

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

Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph, and in Tahpanhes; say, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword devoureth round about thee.

The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah were together oppressed; and all that took them captives held them fast: they refused to let them go.

Hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly;

And the mariners were afraid, and cried every one unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to be lightened of them. But Jonah had gone down into the lower part of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

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

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye really fast unto me, even unto me?

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful gatherings. Love ye then truth and peace.

And when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, downcast in countenance; for they disfigure their faces, so that they may appear fasting to men: verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

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

And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn so long as the bridegroom is with them? But days will come when the bridegroom will have been taken away from them, and then they will fast.

And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting; and they come and say to him, Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bride-chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.

But days will come when the bridegroom shall have been taken away from them, and then shall they fast in that day.

And they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often and make supplications, in like manner those also of the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink?

And he said to them, Can ye make the sons of the bridechamber fast when the bridegroom is with them?

But days will come when also the bridegroom will have been taken away from them; then shall they fast in those days.

I fast twice in the week, I tithe everything I gain.

And much time having now been spent, and navigation being already dangerous, because the fast also was already past, Paul counselled them,

And falling into a place where two seas met they ran the ship aground, and the prow having stuck itself fast remained unmoved, but the stern was broken by the force of the waves.

by which also ye are saved, (if ye hold fast the word which I announced to you as the glad tidings,) unless indeed ye have believed in vain.

Be vigilant; stand fast in the faith; quit yourselves like men; be strong.

Christ has set us free in freedom; stand fast therefore, and be not held again in a yoke of bondage.

So that, my brethren, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, thus stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

and not holding fast the head, from whom all the body, ministered to and united together by the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God.

but prove all things, hold fast the right;

So then, brethren, stand firm, and hold fast the instructions which ye have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.

but Christ, as Son over his house, whose house are we, if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end.

Having therefore a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession.

Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering, (for he is faithful who has promised;)

For I rejoiced exceedingly when the brethren came and bore testimony to thy holding fast the truth, even as thou walkest in truth.

I know where thou dwellest, where the throne of Satan is; and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in the days in which Antipas my faithful witness was, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells.

but what ye have hold fast till I shall come.

I come quickly: hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown.

And after this I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding fast the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree.