New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996

Verses about fasting in the bible

Giving up your favorite snacks or meals for a designated period might sound extremely difficult when you are used to grabbing food whenever you feel hungry. Looking over verses about fasting in the bible uncovers why voluntarily skipping food is used as a powerful way to clear your head and zero in on serious matters. Pushing hunger aside forces your body to quiet down so you can pour all your energy and focus into prayer instead of daily distractions. Scripture portrays this practice not as a weird diet or a way to show off, but as a genuine tool for humbling yourself and seeking real guidance during tough situations. Stepping away from normal comforts helps reset your focus and reminds you that physical food isn't the only thing keeping you going. Building that kind of self-discipline gives you serious mental toughness to handle major challenges head-on.

Moses was there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. He didn't eat any food or drink any water. The Lord wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant. Those words are the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 34:28

"Here is a law for you that will last for all time to come. On the tenth day of the seventh month you must not eat anything. You must not do any work. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders.
Leviticus 16:29

"The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when sin is paid for. Come together for a special service. Do not eat any food. Bring an offering that is made to me with fire.
Leviticus 23:27

Then all of the people of Israel went up to Bethel. They sat there and sobbed in the sight of the Lord. They didn't eat anything that day until evening. Then they brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord.
Judges 20:26

When the people had come together at Mizpah, they went to the well and got water. They poured it out in the sight of the Lord. On that day they didn't eat any food. They admitted they had sinned. They said, "We've sinned against the Lord." Samuel was the leader of Israel at Mizpah.
1 Samuel 7:6

Then they got the bones of Saul and his sons and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh. They didn't eat anything for seven days.
1 Samuel 31:13

All of them were filled with sadness. They sobbed over the whole nation of Israel. They didn't eat anything until evening. That's because Saul and Jonathan and the Lord's army had been killed with swords.
2 Samuel 1:12

David begged God to heal the child. David didn't eat anything. He spent his nights lying on the ground.
2 Samuel 12:16

When Ahab heard what Elijah had said, he tore his clothes. He put on black clothes. He went without eating. He even slept in his clothes. He went around looking sad.
1 Kings 21:27

I announced a fast by the waterway that flows toward Ahava. I told the people not to eat any food. In that way, we made ourselves low in the sight of God. We prayed that he would give us and our children a safe journey. We asked him to keep safe everything we owned.
Ezra 8:21

Then Ezra left the house of God. He went to Jehohanan's room. Jehohanan was the son of Eliashib. While Ezra was there, he didn't eat any food. He didn't drink any water. That's because he was filled with sadness. He sobbed because the people weren't faithful to the Lord's commands. Those people were the ones who had returned from Babylonia.
Ezra 10:6

When I heard about those things, I sat down and sobbed. For several days I was very sad. I didn't eat any food. And I prayed to the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 1:4

It was the 24th day of the seventh month. The people of Israel gathered together again. They didn't eat any food. They wore black clothes. They put dust on their heads.
Nehemiah 9:1

All of the Jews were very sad. They didn't eat anything. They sobbed and cried. Many of them put on black clothes. They were lying down in ashes. They did all of those things in every territory where the king's order and law had been sent.
Esther 4:3

"Go. Gather together all of the Jews who are in Susa. And fast for my benefit. Don't eat or drink anything for three days. Don't do it night or day. I and my attendants will fast just as you do. Then I'll go to the king. I'll do it even though it's against the law. And if I have to die, I'll die."
Esther 4:16

But when they were sick, I put on black clothes. I made myself low by going without food. My prayers for them weren't always answered.
Psalm 35:13

When I sob and go without eating, they laugh at me.
Psalm 69:10

My knees are weak because I've gone without food. My body is very thin.
Psalm 109:24

'We have gone without food,' they say. 'Why haven't you noticed it? We have made ourselves suffer. Why haven't you paid any attention to us?' "On the day when you fast, you do as you please. You take advantage of all of your workers.
Isaiah 58:3

When you fast, it ends in arguing and fighting. You hit one another with your fists. That is an evil thing to do. The way you are now fasting keeps your prayers from being heard in heaven.
Isaiah 58:4

Do you think that is the way I want you to fast? Is it only a time for a man to make himself suffer? Is it only for people to bow their heads like tall grass that is bent by the wind? Is it only for people to lie down on black cloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast? Do you think I can accept that?
Isaiah 58:5

"Here is the way I want you to fast. "Set free those who are held by chains without any reason. Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves. Set free those who are crushed. Break every evil chain.
Isaiah 58:6

Even if they go without food, I will not listen to their cry for help. They might sacrifice burnt offerings and grain offerings. But I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with war, hunger and plague."
Jeremiah 14:12

So you go there. Go on a day when the people are fasting. Read to them from the scroll. Read the words of the Lord you wrote down as I gave them to you. Read them to all of the people of Judah who come in from their towns.
Jeremiah 36:6

It was in the fifth year that Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, was king of Judah. It was the ninth month of that year. A time of fasting at the Lord's temple had been ordered. All of the people in Jerusalem were told to take part in it. So were those who had come in from the towns of Judah.
Jeremiah 36:9

So I prayed to the Lord God. I begged him. I made many appeals to him. I didn't eat anything. I put on black clothes. And I sat down in ashes.
Daniel 9:3

I didn't eat any rich food. No meat or wine touched my lips. I didn't use any lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
Daniel 10:3

Announce a holy fast. Tell the people not to eat anything. Gather them together for a special service. Send for all of the elders who live in the land. Have them come to the house of the Lord your God. And pray to him.
Joel 1:14

The Lord announces to his people, "Return to me with all your heart. There is still time. Do not eat any food. Sob and cry."
Joel 2:12

Priests, blow the trumpets in Zion. Announce a holy fast. Tell the people not to eat anything. Gather them together for a special service.
Joel 2:15

The people of Nineveh believed God's warning. They decided not to eat any food for a while. All of them put on black clothes. That's what everyone from the least important of them to the most important did.
Jonah 3:5

Then he sent out a message to the people of Nineveh. He said, "I and my nobles give this order. "Don't let any person or animal taste anything. That includes your herds and flocks. People and animals must not eat or drink anything.
Jonah 3:7

"Ask the priests and all of the people in the land a question for me. Say to them, 'You sobbed and fasted in the fifth and seventh months. You did it for the past 70 years. But did you really do it for me?
Zechariah 7:5

"You have established special times to go without eating. They are your fasts in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months. They will become days of joy. They will be happy times for Judah. It will happen if you take delight in telling the truth and bringing about peace."
Zechariah 8:19

After 40 days and 40 nights of going without eating, Jesus was hungry.
Matthew 4:2

"When you go without eating, do not look gloomy like those who only pretend to be holy. They make their faces very sad. They want to show people they are fasting. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.
Matthew 6:16

"But when you go without eating, put olive oil on your head. Wash your face.
Matthew 6:17

Then others will not know that you are fasting. Only your Father, who can't be seen, will know it. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly.
Matthew 6:18

One day John's disciples came. They said to Jesus, "We and the Pharisees go without eating. Why don't your disciples go without eating?"
Matthew 9:14

Then Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, "I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don't have anything to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry. If I do, they will become too weak on their way home."
Matthew 15:32

Matthew 17:21

John's disciples and the Pharisees were going without eating. Some people came to Jesus. They said to him, "John's disciples are fasting. The disciples of the Pharisees are also fasting. But your disciples are not. Why aren't they?"
Mark 2:18

Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the groom go without eating while he is with them? They will not fast as long as he is with them.
Mark 2:19

He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
Mark 9:29

Then she was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple. She worshiped night and day, praying and going without eating.
Luke 2:37

Some of the people who were there said to Jesus, "John's disciples often pray and go without eating. So do the disciples of the Pharisees. But yours go on eating and drinking."
Luke 5:33

Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the groom go without eating while he is with them?
Luke 5:34

But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. In those days they will fast."
Luke 5:35

I fast twice a week. And I give a tenth of all I get.'
Luke 18:12

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke. "Set apart Barnabas and Saul for me," he said. "I have appointed them to do special work."
Acts 13:2

The prophets and teachers fasted and prayed. They placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul. Then they sent them off.
Acts 13:3

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church. The elders had trusted in the Lord. Paul and Barnabas prayed and fasted. They placed the elders in the Lord's care.
Acts 14:23

A lot of time had passed. Sailing had already become dangerous. By now it was after the Day of Atonement, a day of fasting. So Paul gave them a warning.
Acts 27:9

We don't give up when we are beaten or put in prison. When people stir up trouble in the streets, we continue to serve God. We work hard for him. We go without sleep and food.
2 Corinthians 6:5

I have worked very hard. Often I have gone without sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. Often I have gone without food. I have been cold and naked.
2 Corinthians 11:27

New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996

Verses about fasting in the bible

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