Fasting

 

Exodus 34:28
And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights;
he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables
the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Leviticus 16:29-31
And this shall be a statute for ever unto 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 unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.



Leviticus 23:27-32
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement:
it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls,
and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 

And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement,
to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. 

For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day,
he shall be cut off from among his people. 

And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day,
the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 

Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout
your generations in all your dwellings. 

It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls:
in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even,
shall ye celebrate your sabbath.



1 Samuel 1:7-8
And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord,
so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 
Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou?
and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved?
am not I better to thee than ten sons?

2 Samuel 12:16-23
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 servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, 
Behold, while the child was yet alive,
we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice:
how will he then vex himself, f we tell him that the child is dead?

 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead:
therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead?
And they said, He is dead.

 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel,
and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house;
and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

 Then said his servants unto him, What thing 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 said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said,
Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?

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



1 Kings 3:8-24
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people,
that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people,
that I may discern between good and bad:
for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing,
and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself,
nor hast asked the life of thine enemies;
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise
and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee,
neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor:
so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days

 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments,
as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem,
and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings,
and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house;
and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered,
that this woman was delivered also: and we were together;
there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept,
and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: 
but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son.
And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.
Thus they spake before the king.

 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead:
and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.

 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.



1 Kings 19:8
And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days
and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

1 Kings 21:27
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes,
and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

2 Chron. 20:3
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord,
and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Ezra 8:21-23
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.

 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way:
 because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; 
but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

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



Neh. 1:4
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,

Neh. 9:1
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, 
and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.

Esther 4:16
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye 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.

Job 33:19-20
He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: 
So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.

Isaiah 58:1-14
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression,
and the house of Jacob their sins.

 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, 
as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: 
they ask of me the ordinances of justice;
they take delight in approaching to God.


 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul,
and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure,
and exact all your labours.

 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 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 bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? 
when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

 
 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 be thy reward.

 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; 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 draw 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:

 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 fail not.

 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called,
The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in

.
 If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day;
and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him,
not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to
ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.



Jeremiah 14:12
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.

Joel 2:12
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

Matthew 6:16-18
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 have their reward.

 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father,
which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.



Romans 14:21
It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth,
or is offended, or is made weak.

2 Cor. 6:5
In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;


Luke 2:37
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple,
but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Luke 18:12
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.


Acts 9:9
And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

Acts 10:30
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,

Acts 13:2-3
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Acts 14:23
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting,
they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

1 Cor. 7:5
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, 
that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, 
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

Matthew 17:21
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Luke 4:2
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing:
and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.